Meduza: I was detained. What to do?

In January 2016, the law on the “right to call” for those detained in criminal cases came into force. Previously, the law required that relatives of those suspected of committing a crime be notified within 12 hours of arrest, and this could also be done by the investigator. The new law grants the right to a telephone call to the suspect himself and no later than three hours after he was brought to the investigator. You can only call in the presence of a law enforcement officer. Attempts to get through that were unsuccessful are not taken into account - the law gives the right to a conversation, not a call.

For those detained on administrative cases, nothing has changed: as before, they have the right to call their loved ones “as soon as possible,” but no later than three hours from the moment of detention. In addition, at the request of the detainee, police officers are obliged to inform his lawyer where he is, as well as the place of work or study of the detainee. De facto, the police, as a rule, do not confiscate mobile phones from detainees under administrative procedure - so the right to make a call is limited only by the charge of the phone.

The online publication Meduza, together with OVD-Info, has prepared a certificate on how to behave when detained.