"This is a challenge to the parliamentary system of St. Petersburg"

Interview of MP Maxim Reznik, who has served 10 days in a special detention center

On the evening of August 7, after ten days of imprisonment, Maxim Reznik, a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, was released in a special reception. On July 28, the Dzerzhinsky District Court of St. Petersburg arrested him for participating in an inconsistent anti-corruption action on June 12 on the Marse Field. A protocol was drawn up to Reznik for violating the procedure for holding a rally and two protocols for disobedience to a policeman - one of them says that Reznik grabbed Colonel of the Russian Guard around his neck. The deputy himself is confident that the arrest is connected with his requirements to investigate the actions of the St. Petersburg police for the shares on June 12. Medusa phoned a Reznik immediately after liberation.

- Why did you go to the action on June 12?

- I came to prevent violation of the rights of citizens. I understood that it might not work out - it would not even work out rather - but this does not mean [that you should not go]. "Do what you should, and whatever happens."

For example, on March 26, I was not going to go [to an anti -corruption rally announced by politician Alexei Navalny]. But on March 24, my students turned to me - I am a former history teacher - they said they were going to go and asked the details. I began to tell them that it is not clear what kind of action, what she was talking about, and then thought-you are teaching them from 5th to 11th grade, then they become adult guys who do not care, who have a sense of injustice-and this is good. Since they will be there, I have to go too. They were both on the 26th [March] and the 12th [June], thank God, none of them were detained. At the rally, I saw what the [police officers] were doing, I could not act differently.

- At what point were you detained? Have you tried to stop the actions of the police?

- They detained right away, I did not try to stop anything. Then they let go, realizing that I was a deputy. Then I tried to reach out to Mr. [Vladimir] Golubev-this is a colonel, the head of the riot police of St. Petersburg, who himself-like his employees-grabbed people indiscriminately, regardless of whether they shouted something, whether they kept posters or not. He tried to influence him, he was overwhelmed by me, I answered him, and physical strength was applied to me, which is on the video . After a month and a half, it turned out that I grabbed his neck - that there was no evidence except the words of the colonel himself. He was most likely recommended to give such evidence - and this is understandable. Apparently, there is no desire to conduct a discussion or no arguments, their discussion is violence.

“You assumed that you will be detained, despite the fact that you are a deputy?”

- I did not assume, because there were no such cases. If this only concerned me, then it would not be so significant. But this is a challenge to the parliamentary system of St. Petersburg, this is a humiliation of the legislative assembly, and most importantly, people who chose their representatives. I don’t intend to forgive this, so I will dispute in all possible ways, my lawyer is already taking [measures]. If we do not find justice here, we will go to the European court.

- With whom did you sit in the special receiver?

- I sat with a smart person, that is, one.

- What were the conditions?

-Normal, no complaints, everything was politely, humanly and within the framework of the law. I only have claims to the pigeons, who always tried to get into my camera through the window, or sit on the windowsill. And my associations began to arise: "Colonel Golubev - pigeons."

“Did your colleagues express your solidarity to you?”

- Of course - from the fractions of the “Growth Party” , “Yabloko” , “Fair Russia” the speaker of the parliament Vyacheslav Makarov . Find what they said, I'm not ready to tell the details - I am now with my mother and wife, whom I have not seen for a while.

- Your further actions?

- Work. [I had] ten days of a forced rest, I have to work. In particular, I am going to initiate consideration of the concept of the development of the Russian National Library, which should be discussed as part of the International Cultural Forum in St. Petersburg [in November 2017]. I am also going to continue to insist on holding a parliamentary investigation on the events of June 12. The corresponding draft resolution was prepared at the end of June - I think this was one of the reasons for my arrest.

Evgeny Berg