Kosterin hit international news headlines when his protest against what he regarded as election fraud during the Russian Duma elections in December, led to his eviction from Murmansk State Technical University.
Kosterin brought his case to court in March, and last week a regional court in Murmansk decided in favor of Kosterin.
No warning
“The court’s decision is that the University broke the law since they did not warn me about the eviction,” says Kosterin to BarentsObserver. The University must also pay Kosterin a symbolic fine of 300 Rubel, or € 8, for the trouble the eviction has caused for him.
The University argumented that he was evicted from University because of several missed exams and bad results. Kosterin said that his results were not any worse than a lot of other students at the University, and thus the eviction had to be because of his protest.
Kostering will now be able to continue to complete his University degree. The court decision is a relief, but he does not think this story has come to an end yet.
Appeal
“I am very satisfied that the court sustained my claims. However, the university will probably appeal the verdict, so I must probably meet in court again for a new court trial.”
Even though Kosterin can start his studies again, he will not do so yet. He must do his service for the military first, and then he will probably continue at the University after this is finished.
