In Sevastopol, the police did not “prevent” an unauthorized rally

In Sevastopol, the police, despite the demands of the city government, did not disperse an unsanctioned rally of entrepreneurs, deceived equity holders and citizens from whom local authorities seize land “illegally obtained in Ukraine”.

The event, which took place on Nakhimov Square, was not approved by the authorities: the Department of Public Communications of Sevastopol offered people to go to Freedom Square, which is located a few kilometers from the city center, citing the fact that a gastronomic festival is taking place on Nakhimov. The organizers of the action, however, did not agree to the conditions of the officials and called on the people of Sevastopol to come out exactly to the monument to the naval commander. In total, about 80 people gathered for the action.

At the very beginning of the rally, a woman appeared on the square, introducing herself as an employee of the public communications department. She was accompanied by two police officers.

Without giving her last name, the official read out an appeal to the audience, in which she recalled that their rally was not approved, and asked the police to prevent this event from taking place.

The police surrounded the organizer of the action, Lenur Usmanov, but they were immediately encircled by the protesters. The protesters demanded that the police officers show their IDs, and only after that Usmanov showed his documents.

Lawyer Vladimir Novikov, who was present at the rally, told the police that in Russia, in accordance with the Federal Law “On meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets”, there is a notification procedure for holding mass actions. “Besides, if you do not allow this event to be held, you yourself may be involved under Article 149 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Obstruction of a rally,” Novikov told police officers.

As a result, the police allowed the townspeople to hold a rally, and accepted a statement from Usmanov regarding an “unidentified” official who had come to the square.

The participants expressed their dissatisfaction with the mass demolition of non-stationary shopping facilities and the seizure of land from the townspeople, which, according to the Sevastopol government, "was illegally issued to people in Ukraine" (in total, about 3,800 lawsuits have been filed by officials against Sevastopol residents for land seizure). The protesters also called on the city government to resign.

The event lasted an hour and a half, and ended without arrests. However, after the rally, the police nevertheless drew up an administrative protocol against the organizer of the rally, Lenur Usmanov, under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation “Violation of the procedure for holding a rally.”

Usmanov himself said that he would challenge this protocol in court.