How were protests suppressed in Khabarovsk? Main

Why did the protests start?

In September 2018, Sergei Furgal won the elections and became governor of the Khabarovsk Territory. He defeated the United Russia candidate in the second round by a margin of 40%. Furgal himself ran for the LDPR party, and his victory was the result of a protest vote against the ruling party.

At the beginning of July 2020, law enforcement officers detained Furgal, took him to Moscow, accused him of organizing contract killings and arrested him, placing him in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. President Putin stripped Furgal of his post as governor. Two days later, 60 thousand people took to the streets of Khabarovsk to protest against the detention of the governor. Their main demand is that the trial in the Furgal case should take place in Khabarovsk, and not in Moscow. The protests have been going on for more than five months.

How the protests took place

All protests in Khabarovsk are peaceful. From the very beginning, regional authorities tried to limit their holding: they cited complaints from city residents about noise during the protests and argued that the protests interfered with the movement of pedestrians and public transport. The regional authorities refused to coordinate actions in support of the ex-governor, but for a long time did not disperse the protesters by force.

The first forceful suppression of the protest occurred on October 10, after information appeared that tents had been erected in the square in front of the regional government building. The protest was suppressed harshly - riot police used batons and detained 30 people, some of them were injured.

How protesters are detained in Khabarovsk

Long before the authorities began to actively impede the holding of protests, the police began to detain their participants - but not during protest events, but between them. During arrests, law enforcement officers excessively use physical force—there are known casualties; detainees’ phones are taken away and they are not allowed to contact human rights activists. Participants in the events said that employees of the Center for Countering Extremism and the FSB were involved in the arrests.