St. Petersburg, May 12, Interfax - The justice’s court in St. Petersburg put Roman Lutoshkin under arrest for ten days, because Roman rode along the city’s central streets on his bicycle completely naked to show his protest at the lack of bikeways.
The judge “refused all appeals and in five minutes sentenced Lutoshkin for 15 days of arrest,” told Alexander Kholodov, the head of St. Petersburg Department of the Committee for protection of drivers’ rights, to Interfax.
The court, however, eventually addressed the earlier appeal and reduced the term of his arrest considering all mitigating evidence.
The defense was seeking to replace the arrest with a penalty. “But still, this is our small victory,” said Kholodov.
Lutoshkin was apprehended by police last Thursday at the house where he lives, and arrested by the court .
May 3, the leader of the Black Flag movement Roman Lutoshkin staged an action to draw public attention to the problem of disrespect by the vehicle drivers for the rights of bicycle riders on the roads.
He put off all his clothes at the Palace Square and rode naked around the Alexander Column on the bicycle with an attached black flag. He was accompanied by about a hundred dressed bicyclers. After that, the whole group headed by naked Lutoshkin took to Nevsky Prospect. The traffic police showed no reaction to this action.