Russian policeman threatens to shoot protesters against park development project

A Russian policeman has threatened to fire on locals protesting against a development project in a local park in the city of Saratov, in the Volga region, video footage posted by the Govorit Saratov Telegram channel on Wednesday has shown.

In the footage, Lieutenant Colonel Gennady Boltyshev, the head of the Saratov police’s Public Order Department, is heard asking protesters to disperse: “If you do not comply … I will be forced to use physical force and place you under arrest.” In response, the protesters said he could shoot them, to which he replied that he would “shoot you all if need be. … By law I can use physical force, including firearms.”

The Saratov police department confirmed later on Wednesday that the security forces had the right to use physical force “if the police cannot fulfil their duties with non-forceful methods”.

Vladimir Novikov, from the Saratov City Duma, wrote on Telegram that he had sent an official request to the regional Interior Ministry demanding it check if Boltyshev’s behaviour amounted to a threat of murder and abuse of authority.

Residents of Saratov have been protesting against the clearing of part of a city park to make way for a new school to be built on the site with places for 1,100 pupils since early this year. One woman trying to defend the park in the city’s courts told Novaya Gazeta Europe in July that the school was being lobbied for by State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin personally. The park is located in his electoral district.