A lawyer who defended political prisoners has been placed under house arrest on charges of fraud.

Lawyer Igor Popovsky Solntsevsky Court Moscow sent to house arrest for 1 month and 7 days - until June 28, reported SOTAvision publication. The lawyer was released from custody in the courtroom. He admitted his guilt. 

Igor Popovsky was arrested on May 21 in Moscow. Investigators believe he allegedly took 6 million rubles from one of his clients, promising to close her criminal case through his connections in the court and the prosecutor's office. 

Popovsky is known for defending the defendants in the Bolotnaya Square case, anti-fascists and anarchists. According to Back in 2013, he told the First Department that the authorities tried to persuade him to cooperate, and after he refused, they planted a package of TNT on him. 

He is not the first independent Russian lawyer to be persecuted by the state. This year, a lawyer was released. Alexey Bulk Igor Sergunin, imprisoned 3,5 years for participating in an "extremist community." Two other Navalny lawyers— Alexey Liptser и Vadim Kobzev — remain in prison. They were sentenced to 5 and 5,5 years, respectively. 

В Kaliningrad area departs punishment lawyer Maria Bonzler, who also defended political prisoners. She repeatedly complained about the torturous conditions of imprisonment.