Promotion July 27. How the authorities violated the rights of protesters

The police and the National Guard were initially aimed at forceful suppression

— A large number of police forces and the National Guard were brought in to “preserve law and order” during the protest in Moscow. How many is unknown, but according to unofficial information , about 400 police officers from other regions were brought in to reinforce them.

— Law enforcement officers put the protesters in a vice, did not allow them to pass, and then detained them. This happened in Stoleshnikov Lane, where people had to break through the cordon in order not to be among those detained.

“The police and the National Guard used force disproportionate to the actions of the protesters: they beat them with batons and made harsh arrests, while the protest itself was peaceful.

Violations after arrests

“The detainees were deliberately kept in stuffy paddy wagons for several hours. Sometimes they were not allowed to go to the toilet.

— At least 12 police departments refused to provide food and water to detainees.

— People’s freedom was restricted for more than 48 hours after arrest.

— Many detained protesters were not allowed to call their relatives and lawyers. In this regard, they were unable to receive qualified assistance from the courts.

— In many cases, territorial jurisdiction was violated. People were detained in one area, and the hearings took place in courts in other areas.

— At least two cases of arrest of protest participants in absentia in the Zelenograd District Court are known. The court denies the fact of the incident.

— In the Gagarinsky District Court, a decision on one of the cases was made even before the start of the hearing. At five in the evening, a card appeared on the court’s website saying that the protest participant was guilty of an administrative offense and was arrested for ten days. Whereas, according to the detainee, the meeting itself took place at 21:00.

“On Monday, when people were taken to the courts, some of them were unable to call lawyers because their phones were dead. This situation has led to the fact that many of them have not received legal assistance and will not be able to appeal the court decision.

Violations in special receivers and then shares

— Those who receive administrative arrest are taken to serve their sentences in other cities: Lukhovitsy, Elektrostal, Chekhov, Sergiev Posad, Istra, Lyubertsy, Mozhaisk. This is done to make it more difficult for their friends and relatives to come to the place where the arrest is being served and make the transfer.

— Some detainees were denied a call to their relatives after being taken to a special detention center. Thus, their relatives and friends could not find out where they were.

“Many special detention centers and police departments did not answer the phone, in some cases they provided deliberately false information about detainees, and they hung up when they heard the callers’ questions.

“According to Human Rights Postcards, in one of the special detention centers two former prisoners were placed with the protesters and began to put pressure on them. is also OVD-Info aware of several similar cases.

— On the night of July 31, the first searches took place as part of the criminal case of “mass riots.” They were carried out by FSB and Center E officers, who began breaking into the apartments of the protesters at about four in the morning. After the search they were taken for interrogation. By law, night searches must be justified and can only be carried out in exceptional cases. In other cases, searches can only be carried out from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Considering that those searched were not in the status of suspects, it is unclear whether these cases were exceptional.

The authorities are trying to convince everyone that residents of other regions took part in the rally. Don't they have the right to protest?

Even before the end of the action, the authorities began to promote the idea that residents of other Russian cities took part in it. At four o'clock in the afternoon, editor-in-chief of the state television channel RT Margarita Simonyan said that the 2,000 participants in the protest were not from Moscow or the Moscow region. She did not indicate the source of this data.

On July 28, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that more than 600 participants in the action were not residents of Moscow. On the same day, the pro-state television channel REN-TV released a 25-minute film in which, among other things, it was stated that “half of the protesters” were visitors. The next day, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that these were pre-planned "mass riots". Here again the thesis about out-of-towners arose. According to Sobyanin, people who “had nothing to do with Moscow and the Moscow City Duma elections took part in the action.” These statements by Sobyanin were broadcast on the Moscow metro.

Not a single law of the Russian Federation prohibits people from participating in political actions. Including in cities where they do not have permanent registration or residence permit. At the same time, it is absolutely unclear how the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the mayor’s office considered which of the participants in the action were from Moscow and who came from the region.

Authorities also differ in official estimates of the number of participants. On the day of the action, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, even before its end, issued a statement that about 3,500 people took part in it. Whereas the protocol on the detention of journalist Ilya Azar says that, according to security officials, about 10 thousand people took part in the action.