Mikhail Benyash: I planned to drive up to the detainees. With lawyers they hit a little less

The day before the protests I arrived in Krasnodar. I have a personal matter here: I had to visit my nephew in the hospital. At the same time, if there were arrests at an uncoordinated rally - and I knew that it was not coordinated, and I told everyone this - people would need help, and I was going to provide it.

activities were being carried out against me At the same time, I learned that operational search . I received a call from a police officer who said that my car was stranded for some reason and asked me to appear somewhere .

I was very surprised: why was my car in the orientation? The next week I reported this to the Investigative Committee, the prosecutor's office and the Bar Association of the Krasnodar Territory. That for some reason I am in development, and since I know that on the eve of the action, from September 6 to 8, 11 people were detained out of nowhere, many of them were my friends and former clients, I suspect that I might also be detained.

Then information appeared that an order had come to close me for 15 days. I reported this to the Bar Association of the Krasnodar Territory. After which I made a call to one of the detained activists, Vitaly Nemtsev, the administrative case against him had already been terminated. Literally four minutes after that, a gray Mazda stopped next to me, two strong comrades jumped out and told me: “Come on.”

The Chamber, the Investigative Committee and the prosecutor's office are nearby. I prepared and submitted an application to each of them. The Mazda drove up when I left the prosecutor's office and walked along Krasnaya Street (the central street of Krasnodar - OVD-Info ). I planned to drive up to those detained at the protest in order to work with them. In the presence of lawyers, detainees are beaten a little less.

They started pushing me into the car; this was filmed by Ira Barkhatova, my client. I found myself in the car, pulled out my phone to report that something strange was happening: I was either being kidnapped or detained. A strong young man in a white T-shirt began to snatch my phone from me. I didn’t give him the phone, to which I received another hand-wringing. He began to choke me and throw me all over the car. It ended with me being handcuffed on both hands, pulled out of the car, and thrown face down on the asphalt.

I looked up and realized that I was in the parking lot of the police department, because there were a lot of people in police uniforms. Then they dragged me to the third or fourth floor, to the criminal investigation office. All this time they cursed me terribly. A comrade in a white shirt threw me onto a chair in the office, told the other police officers to leave, and then struck me several times in the face.

I kept asking him to introduce himself. He told me that his name was Ivan, but for some reason his colleagues always called him Dima. From the case materials, I learned that his name is Dmitry Yurchenko, he is a junior sergeant of the criminal investigation department. After several blows, he pushed me, and when I fell, I hit my head on the safe.

I injured my leg at the beginning of September, I walk in a special bandage on my knee. I said that I injured my leg. Nobody believed it, everyone found it funny. I was taken to the hospital twice: they diagnosed abrasions on my face, arms, neck, cheekbone and jaw, hemorrhage in the left eardrum and traumatic otitis media.

Protocols were drawn up against me regarding part two 20.2 - calls for an uncoordinated rally - they consisted of the fact that I advised citizens online about this event, saying that it was not coordinated. This is my “offence”.

And according to 19.3 (disobedience to the lawful demand of a police officer - OVD-Info ): for allegedly swinging my legs in the parking lot at the police department, hitting my head on the car window and attempting to escape. Although my knee is so bad now that this is impossible.

They probably wanted to isolate me in order to minimize the protection of the detainees. Or this is revenge: when activists began to be seized before the action, at intervals of once an hour, I promised on Facebook that for each subsequent detainee I would post the personal phone numbers of police chiefs and regional administration officials. I posted four phones.

About ten lawyers came to my trial, many of whom I didn’t know: the people turned out to be caring.

We will initiate a case for abuse of power, but now I am more interested in the fact that they promised to open a case of assault on a police officer: as usually happens when police beat someone . Comrade Yurchenko also promised that he would “put me down.” I tell him: “Do you like men? Go ahead, show what you can do.” After that, he suddenly deflated.

Regarding potential Article 318 (Article of the Criminal Code on violence against a police officer - OVD-Info ), an investigator from the Investigative Committee came, I gave him exhaustive testimony. Although the police really asked me to take Article 51 (Article of the Constitution, which gives the right to refuse testimony - OVD-Info ). The Investigative Committee investigator is the only one who introduced himself from those with whom I spoke.

The police talked to me like this. comes up to me An interrogating girl and says:

— I have to interview you, but it’s better to take 51st .

— There won’t be a 51st , introduce yourself.

— I’m a police officer, can’t you tell by my uniform?

- Apparently, introduce yourself.

- My name is Nastya.

— What can you talk about with interrogator Nastya?

She got offended and left.

I spent five or six hours in handcuffs. They took me to the hospital in handcuffs. They did a brain tomogram with their hands cuffed. Naturally, they didn’t let the lawyer in: they said the plan was a “fortress.”

After the hospital, employees came up to me, asked “why am I such a greyhound,” and described what they could do to me. After the investigator from the Investigative Committee they let me have a lawyer, so at least I got contact with the outside world. I spent the night in a cell for administrative detainees, from there I was taken to trial. I have no idea what I can be accused of under Article 318.