“Do not be afraid, the truth is on your side”: Lawyer Mikhail Biryukov about rallies in Moscow

About three thousand people were detained on shares for honest elections. Hundreds of administrative cases and several criminal cases were instituted. All this time, lawyers work with convicts, one of them is Mikhail Biryukov.

How do you think, why did the elections in the Moscow City Duma become such an important event?

Elections to the Moscow City Duma from the point of view of the country are quite an ordinary event. Yes, we were preparing for some protest promotions if we meet with falsification facts, but no one expected that almost all independent deputies would be denied. Moreover, refused under far -fetched prepositions.

It seems to me that a large role was played by the fact that in the election campaign all independent deputies worked a huge number of volunteers who really collected signatures that really participated in agitation, who saw the signatures collected. These volunteers became a protest catalyst. Hundreds of real people turned out to be deceived. Their votes were stolen at the stage of registration of the candidate.

Is there any general trend in all the latest rally affairs?

We follow the decisions of the courts in certain areas, and it is completely clear that there is a political decision that not a single thing will be discontinued. In all - a decision on bringing to administrative responsibility.

Each trial has developed a very specific practice of considering these cases. And a completely specific amount of fines. If the bourgeois court standardly issues 15 thousand fines, Krasnopresnensky more often - 10 thousand rubles. Some courts call witnesses, some-no, but this does not affect the result. The verdict will always be indictable. The appeal will always be on the side of the court of first instance.

If at the beginning of these processes we had the illusion that we can influence the course of consideration, now the flywheel is launched in full force. It is not worth expecting the judge that the judge will go beyond the framework of the decision on top of the decision. Only the amount of fines can vary.

And besides the size of the fine, the judge can make independent decisions? For example, to choose - to appoint an arrest or a fine.

A very incomprehensible situation, because the protocols that are drawn up in the police and provide arresting articles - they are most likely predetermined from above. That is, there is an attitude - for this police department, to impose disobedience to the police and, accordingly, apply arrest. The sensation is created that these decisions are already a foregone conclusion. If earlier under Article 19.3 (disobedience to police officers- OTD-Info ) we saw that judges are limited to a fine of a thousand rubles, now administrative arrest is used in the blue.

What violations are usually in the police department?

There is fundamentally one thing - the protocols duplicate the police report. Protocols do not reflect the real time of delivery and detention.

A lot depends on the head of this police department - in terms of the admission of lawyers, defenders, attitudes to the detainees themselves. There are police departments, where, with all violations in the preparation of the protocol, the attitude towards the defenders and the detainees complies with the norms. And there is unreasonable cruelty-when the defenders are not allowed, when my colleagues-advocates are thrown from the departments of the internal affairs.

There is an ATS where they treat with understanding, even with respect to those who are detained. Most often, police officers have the question: why did you go to the rally? They are trying to understand, to comprehend for themselves. They really interest this situation. They see that this is not the first time they are forced to do what they should not do. They try to understand for themselves how appropriate it is, what is the meaning of their work. Because they are accustomed to work still within the framework of the law. They were engaged in apartment thefts, robberies, murders, robberies. And now, according to these political processes, they are forced to act outside the framework.

How can I build protection in the courts of first instance?

From the moment of detention, if there is a lawyer, you need to immediately build a line of protection. If there is no lawyer, take the 51st article of the Constitution (giving the right to not testify against himself- OVD-info ).

The line of protection for my clients is very simple, because they all tell the truth. And in the protocols a lie is written. Therefore, it is not necessary to build a complex protection design, it is enough to say what was really. There were peaceful meetings of citizens, walks around the city, meetings with candidates for deputies. There were no mass riots, there was nothing of what we see in police reports.

Then we try to defend our position in the appeal. Naturally, all this will form the basis of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights.

What would you advise people who participate in street promotions, peaceful meetings?

Do not be afraid. And although the law is now not used properly, the truth is on your side. Do not conflict with the police, do not bother, do not make comments.

If you went out into the street to express your position, do it peacefully, dignity, confidently. If you are detained, know that there is ATD-info and other human rights organizations, where lawyers and defenders are on duty around the clock to come to your aid.