How 75 people were detained at an action “against the Tsar” in Yakutsk - the story of a local journalist

More than a hundred people gathered, but there were a lot of them “in civilian clothes.” After the small rally, people went for a “walk” from one square to another (from Ordzhonikidze Square to Lenin Square - OVD-Info ), these are the main squares of the city, the distance between them is less than a kilometer. At each of the squares, the authorities organized events, as it seemed to us, specifically to counterbalance this. While those gathered were talking, people in civilian clothes gathered in a separate group and, apparently, were deciding where to get them. I heard snippets of their conversations: some wanted to take it compactly in the square, others during the procession. Then the guys went in a column towards the third square, it’s called Friendship Square, they didn’t have time to create an alternative event, a lone singer stood on the stage and sang in front of two kids, almost alone. But the speakers were loud, and it was impossible to simply communicate there. And in the distance there were already police buses, as I was later told.

The column turned around and went back towards Lenin Square. And there, halfway along the route, there was a narrow area fenced off by a construction “gut”, where the whole group was very cleverly detained. They grabbed indiscriminately - journalists, passers-by, participants. But they detained quite gently: however, there were no resisters.

Well, then they took us to the police station and gathered everyone in the assembly hall. One of the organizers arranged a roll call, my friends and I heard the number 85 people, but then he said in an interview that there were 75 people detained: apparently, we misheard.

It seems that some activists were detained before the rally, but this is speculation. Among the detainees there were very young guys and children. There were older people too, but in the minority. There was an elderly woman, they called an ambulance for her: she seemed to be feeling unwell. At first they thought that she was taken by mistake, but it turned out that she was a lady with an active position. A friend of mine’s 14-year-old son was detained; he lives in that area; he was taken by accident. By 20:00 everyone was released, or so they write. As far as I know, no protocols were drawn up. Explanatory notes were taken from the detainees, and the children were asked for the names of their class teachers and parents.