Every third person detained at rallies in 2021 was arrested

Project journalists compared the work of Moscow law enforcement officers and courts after the rallies in 2021 (January 23, 31 and February 2) with the consequences of earlier major protests - 2017 (March 26) and 2019 (July 27, August 3 and 10) . The results suggest that the authorities have met the current wave of protests with an unprecedented number of detentions and arrests.

This year, the courts have become a real tool of intimidation, issuing unprecedentedly strict decisions, the Project writes.

One of the detained participants with disabilities, who was sentenced to five days of arrest, said that the police department officers approached the judge several times after the verdict. “<...> They persuaded me to reconsider my case, they said that I didn’t have a hand, why send me to a special detention center.” “Everyone who was with me in the department was detained for the first time, but everyone was given a day (and not a fine), — recalls another participant in the rally in a conversation with the publication. - Less - from four to six days - for those who admitted that they were at the rally and repented. Those who either said that they were not at the rally, or did not repent and did not start crying in front of the judge, were given eight to ten days.”

• From January 23 to February 24, 2021, Moscow courts registered 5,700 cases of protesters. This is more than twice as many as after the rallies two years ago, and six times more than in 2017, investigators found.
• Every third detainee was sent under arrest in 2021 (33% of the cases studied by the publication on “rally articles”). In 2017 and 2019, arrest rates ranged from 9% to 5%, respectively, with most being fined.
• Almost half (45%) of the detained women of those whose decisions were published by the courts ended up in special detention centers in 2021. In past years, judges sent no more than 5% under arrest. The proportion of women among all those arrested in connection with protests has increased fivefold since 2017.
• Due to violations in the departments, the courts have become five times more likely to return the cases of detainees back to the police. In 2017 and 2019, the share of returned cases was 1.1% and 1.4%, respectively, and in 2021 it increased to 6.5%.
• In 2021, protesters spent at least 6,736 days in special detention centers (more than 18 years), which is almost five times longer than after the actions of previous years. The total amount of fines exceeded 6 million rubles.

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We talked about the dangers of participation in uncoordinated actions, what to do if you were detained, whether to wear a mask and what problems may arise with paying a fine, we talked about here .