Moscow Court Keeps Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt in Detention

On April 29, the Moscow City Court reviewed appeals against the extension of the pre-trial detention of Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt.

The hearing took place in the appellate building of the court. Both defendants participated via video link from Pre-Trial Detention Center No. 6. Earlier, on March 12, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow had extended their detention until June 15, 2026.

The defense lawyers requested that the measure of restraint be changed to house arrest, but the court upheld the previous decision.

During the hearing, both defendants rejected the charges against them. According to an audio recording published by Mediazona, Natalia Leongardt stated:

“The ideas attributed to us by the prosecution are not ones we support, nor have we ever supported… As a result, two innocent people have already been held in detention for four months.”

Daria Egereva also emphasized that she has no connection to the organization she is accused of being involved with:

“I am not familiar with and do not know this organization… What we are being accused of is completely untrue.”

She appealed to the court to change the measure of restraint:

“I ask to be allowed to return home and embrace my children.”

Despite these statements, the appellate court refused to grant the defense appeals. As a result, Egereva and Leongardt will remain in custody at least until mid-June.

IR