Journalist Pavel Nikulin appealed to the ECHR after being detained at a protest rally

Journalist Pavel Nikulin, who was detained during a protest rally on March 5, 2012, filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights about the inaction of the investigation. This was reported on October 7 by Interfax with reference to the lawyer Ilnur Sharapov, who represents the interests of the journalist.

The complaint states that the Investigative Committee refused to open a criminal case against the police officers who used force to detain Nikulin while he was on an editorial assignment for the Moskovskiye Novosti newspaper.

According to the defense, the prohibition of torture was violated in this way, as well as Nikulin's right to freedom and personal integrity and freedom of expression.

Speaking to the agency, Sharapov stressed that none of the many complaints by participants in the Moscow protests about police violence in 2012 led to a criminal case. “This is a vicious practice in Moscow when criminal cases are not initiated against police officers who use violence against protesters during detention or delivery to the police department. And it doesn't matter who is being detained, a journalist or a non-journalist. We have an assumption that the police here have been given carte blanche to use force, ”Interfax quoted the lawyer as saying.

Pavel Nikulin was detained on March 5 near the Lubyanka metro station. Despite the fact that he had a journalistic certificate, a protocol was drawn up against him on violation of the procedure for holding the action. Later, the Magistrate's Court dismissed the administrative case. After the arrest, Nikulin went to the doctor and documented his injuries. In addition to Nikulin, journalists Maria Klimova (“Ridus”), Andrey Stenin (RIA Novosti), Gleb Shchelkunov (“Kommersant”), Arkady Babchenko (an independent journalist) were detained with the use of force on the same day, a journalist was beaten by police officers. Kommersant-FM ”Ulyana Malashenko, later she was hospitalized with a concussion.

Violence against journalists was strongly condemned by the international organization Reporters Without Borders. Shortly after the incident with Nikulin, Svetlana Mironyuk and Vladimir Gurevich, who at that time held the positions of chief editors of RIA Novosti and the Moskovskiye Novosti newspaper, respectively, turned to the head of the Moscow police with a demand to investigate what had happened. “We are convinced that the leadership of the GUMVD will check the circumstances of the incident and give a fair legal assessment of the incident with Pavel Nikulin, including neglect of the journalist’s security card and, accordingly, the work of a journalist. Moreover, we know the name and surname of the specific guilty police officer,” Mironyuk emphasized.

Vladimir Kolokoltsev, who headed the Moscow police at that time, in turn, demanded that explanatory work be carried out with the employees. “It is necessary to remind every employee that media representatives present at mass rallies are doing necessary and important work for society,” Kolokoltsev said. “Therefore, any fact that police officers ignore the provision of documents certifying their activities by journalists should be regarded as an emergency, which should be immediately investigated.”