On May 6, 2012, the day before Vladimir Putin’s inauguration for his third presidential term, tens of thousands of protesters marched in central Moscow and began to assemble for a rally, sanctioned by Moscow municipal authorities, at Bolotnaya Square, near the Kremlin. Unbeknown to the rally organizers, the Moscow city police department had decided the day before that police should block off one of the entrances to the square on May 6, allegedly for security reasons. This created a bottleneck at the entrance to the square.

In response to the reduced access to the square, which was inconsistent with an agreement rally organizers had made with the Moscow city administration, several political opposition leaders called for a sit-down strike, and a handful of protesters tried to break through the police line. Police responded with force, including using rubber truncheons, and detained hundreds of people, peaceful protesters as well as people acting aggressively. In some cases protesters threw objects at the police. In several incidents they tried to stop police from beating people or arresting other protesters.

The violence and disorder at the protest was sporadic, involving only dozens of people. Twenty-nine police and fifty-five protesters were injured, but most injuries were minor. However, investigative authorities have alleged that the violence was planned and was part of a conspiracy to destabilize the country. The government cites sensationalist allegations made in a documentary aired by the pro-Kremlin television station NTV that a Georgian politician and businessman paid an opposition leader to organize the violence to overthrow the government.

The authorities opened an investigation into the actions of the protestors, deeming them “mass riots,” which under Russian law are mass actions that involve “violence, pogroms, destruction of property, use of firearms, or armed resistance to the authorities.” The authorities have leveled a range of charges against 31 protesters, including participating in, calling for, and organizing mass riots and using violence against police. Some members of the Presidential Council on Civil Society Development and Human Rights have questioned the appropriateness of mass rioting charges and called for the detainees to be released prior to trial.

On December 18, 2013, a prison amnesty, introduced in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Russia's constitution, entered into force. The amnesty covered people prosecuted for “participation in mass riots” and “calling for mass riots” but not for violence against officials or organizing mass riots. By the end of 2013, five people facing charges in relation to the Bolotnaya demonstration, including three people in custody, were freed from prosecution under the amnesty. In January and February 2014 five more Bolotnaya defendants were amnestied. Four of them had earlier been released from custody on their own recognizance.

In spring 2014, more than two years after the Bolotnaya rally, the authorities charged three more people in relation to the protest, one of whom was arrested and put in custody pending trial, and the others eventually amnestied.

Today, thirteen people on trial or awaiting trial for their involvement in the Bolotnaya Square protest are behind bars, three of them for more than a year. Six people are now on trial. Eight are serving prison sentences following conviction. About a dozen of the protesters fled the country—some of them were already charged and others feared prosecution.