Konstantin Markin: “I learned the basics of human rights from myself”

— How did you start working with OVD-Info?

In January 2017, by chance, I ended up at Chistye Prudy, where Mark Halperin was holding an action . At the event, I met [OVD-Info legal assistance coordinator] Alla Frolova, who was detained that day: she was giving an interview, and law enforcement officers did not like it. I followed her to the police station to help. At the same time, Halperin and several of his supporters were detained, I helped them in court. Since then we have been cooperating with Alla and OVD-Info. I was also a defender of Vyacheslav Shatrovsky, a recognized political prisoner .

— What do you remember about the Shatrovsky case?

Vyacheslav Shatrovsky was no longer a young man; he was nearly fifty. A man standing firmly on his feet. Father of many children. I remember that in his case the court diligently ignored the fact that, as follows from the documents, the same policeman (recognized as the victim in the case) was allegedly in the hospital at the same time as Shatrovsky and at the same time was filling out documents at the police department for administrative cases . I remember that Vyacheslav was sent to the colony to serve his sentence even before the consideration of the appeal against the verdict. Now these and other violations are being considered by the ECHR, where I filed a complaint. Even after Vyacheslav was released, we keep in touch with him.