The investigator did not demand an extension of the arrest for the human rights activist from Yekaterinburg, and the lawyer was released under a travel ban, reported the channel 'Network Freedoms'.
Earlier, UN Human Rights Council special rapporteurs Mariana Katzarova and Mary Lawlor called on the Russian authorities for Sokolov's immediate release and cessation of persecution.
A criminal case against Sokolov was initiated in July due to old links on the social network Facebook, qualifying it as a 'repeated display of extremist symbols'. The human rights activist is accused of posting links to posts on Facebook in the 'Ural Human Rights Activist' channel in 2020 and 2021. Previously, he had already been arrested under an administrative protocol for posting the Facebook logo.
Alexey Sokolov — a former member of the Public Monitoring Commission (PMC) of the Sverdlovsk region — had been in the detention center since early July 2024.
He does not admit guilt, previously stating that during his arrest, law enforcement officers beat him and did not tell him what he was accused of for more than six hours. The lawyer called his case fabricated — according to the human rights activist, the Sverdlovsk region FSIN department is behind his persecution.
* The owner of Facebook Meta is recognized in Russia as an 'extremist' organization.
Photo: Memorial