Translated material
"March of the Regions" and two days of torture regime
“The left, the right, the National Bolshevik and the liberal sat together for two days” - this could be used as the plot of some joke. However, the story is real and not so funny.
But first things first.
November 4. Nizhny Novgorod. "March of the Regions" Much has been written about him in recent days. Seeing that the police had already built barricades on Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street, “we took a different route,” suddenly turning to Zvezdinka.
On the one hand, this option was not so successful, because on the day of public festivities, dispersing a peaceful protest on the main street of the city would have caused a greater resonance. On the other hand, at least a few minutes were won while the slightly surprised soldiers caught up with the column. Fire, smoke bomb, BSN, riot police, police, amazed drivers. In short, “Horses and people mixed in a heap, And volleys of thousands of guns. Merged into a drawn-out howl.”
It turned out to be a short, but very bright action - it’s only a pity that it was not possible to make the demands publicly heard and our goals remained very mysterious to passers-by.
If they managed to break through the police chains, then it was more difficult to argue with the BSN members. The result is 41 detainees.
As expected, the vintage was tough, although this time it didn’t come down to the use of special equipment, like on September 15th. After a good roll in the mud and almost breaking my arm, they finally brought me to the groove.
However, the adventures did not end there.
... 13 people were taken to the OP No. 2 of the Kanavinsky district of Nizhny Novgorod (one turned out to be a disabled person of the 3rd group, who was accidentally pushed into a groove). Already there I had a chance to talk with those nice guys in helmets who beat us on the street a few hours ago. These were simple guys, a little reminiscent of the heroes of the series “Real Boys”, kindly, with their own completely human concepts, a little awkward. When I explained to them the requirements of the action, they replied: “Well... damn it... that’s normal, actually... just something needs to be done differently.” And after this it finally becomes clear that this line of barricades that has formed between us is of an artificial nature. On the streets, some dissatisfied people suppress other dissatisfied people, and this is a fact.
However, soon during interrogation, employees of the “Center for Combating Extremism” swore to me that in this country everyone is absolutely happy with everything and that we, the protesters, are just a bunch of marginalized people. These gentlemen, magnificent in their anonymity (TsPEshniks, by the way, never introduce themselves) threw mud at all the most significant people in the Nizhny Novgorod opposition, complained that I was sliding “further and further towards Staroverov” and warned about the upcoming search of my home.
Speaking of the search. That evening, several unknown people tried to get into my living space. Fortunately, my wife didn’t let me in, and apparently they didn’t dare to break down two doors without some kind of sanctions.
Then things got really interesting. It was clear that OP-2 would not accommodate 12 people (the 13th disabled person was nevertheless released). Six people were thrown out into the corridor to be sent somewhere else. The head of the police department, Colonel A.A., hesitated a little in front of Gleb Kalinichev’s door. Vislov began beating him right in front of a dozen and a half witnesses. Along the way, Alexander Mironychev and some drunk who was sitting behind bars and swearing at the colonel got it.
It ended with the fact that most of the detainees were sent to other departments, but four (including me) were left and locked for two days in a room of two square meters. Actually, that's where I started.
Alexander Zaitsev ("The Other Russia"), Viktor Shkilev ("Russians"), Gleb Kalinichev (activist) and I sat on a U-shaped bench, side by side, without the slightest opportunity to lie down or even stretch our legs. Only two people could stand up at a time. There was not enough room for more. By the way, seasoned oppositionists, seeing these cages, said that they had never seen such hell before. And even the drug addict from the next room, who was entrusted with taking out the trash, was slightly horrified by our sitting a la “sprat in a jar.” Smoking was not allowed, and although this did not cause any harm to me, it became a serious test for the guys. We were also informed that, “Guys, all calls are prohibited for you personally - this is an instruction from management.” To top it all off, after two days of joyful life, they were brought to trial in handcuffs. What were they afraid of? What if we run away without belts and laces? Not clear. I think there is a good reason to contact the Committee against Torture.
The court could not cope with the flow of cases and the majority of detainees. My report revealed some wild confusion regarding the place of detention. They didn’t even give me a summons, promising to send it to my place of residence.
And yet, after leaving the court, I am tormented by the question: what to do with the population? If there were not 150-200 active people at the event, but at least 3 thousand citizens who came there, to the October 4 theater, such blatant lawlessness could have been avoided. However, who knows... we still live in riot police city.