Russian authorities have moved from jail to house arrest one of two teenagers detained on charges of "involvement in a terrorist community” in a case set up by an undercover law enforcement officer, Russian news agencies report.
A Moscow court on August 16 ruled that Anna Pavlikova, who has been held since March, be placed under house arrest after a request by investigators and comments from her lawyer and family that her health had deteriorated.
Pavlikova, 18, and the other detainee, Maria Dubovik, 19, are members of the so-called New Greatness movement.
The Moscow court was scheduled later on August 16 to hear a request to have Dubovik also moved to house arrest.
Pavlikova has been suffering from panic attacks and a loss of hearing, while Dubovik is suffering from a tumor, problems with her digestive system, and a thyroid condition, their families and legal teams say.
Moscow residents protesting their detention used Facebook to organize what they called a Mothers' March on August 15, an event that drew hundreds of people in the pouring rain, with many participants carrying stuffed animals to emphasize the young age of the detainees.
Dubovik and Pavlikova were arrested in March along with eight other members of New Greatness. Six are being held in pretrial detention while four are under house arrest.
Those charged say they had turned their online chat criticizing the government into a political movement after the move was proposed by one of their members.
Later, it was revealed that the man who proposed the idea, wrote the movement's charter, and rented premises for the movement's gatherings was a special agent of the Federal Security Service (FSB).
