Arrest for speaking

2018 became the leader in the number of arrests of peaceful protesters in Russia

For the first six months in Russia, 1,492 people were involved in violations during mass actions, almost one in ten was arrested.

According to the "Apology of Protest" , basically the defendants in the cases received various fines (1227 people), 142 people were arrested, 123 were assigned compulsory work.

Human rights activists note that the total number of those arrested for violating the protest legislation has decreased compared to the first half of 2017, but the share of administrative arrests has sharply increased - in 2018, every tenth punishment was an arrest. Last year marked the highest number of arrests since 2011, but arrests were ordered in 167 cases, representing just over 4% of the total number of sentences imposed by the courts.

“It can already be argued that 2018 has become the leader in terms of the number of arrests of peaceful protesters, since 142 arrests in the first half of the year and more than a hundred arrests only as a result of the action on September 9 already significantly exceed the figures for last year,” the Apologia for Protest says in a statement. ".

"Apology of Protest" is a project of the Agora International Human Rights Group, which provides assistance to detained participants in mass actions.