Volgograd activists complain about unjustified detentions

After the actions in support of Navalny, law enforcers detained Volgograd activists, Vladimir Kruglyakov, Galina Zabolotneva and Vladislav Murashkin. The activists were outraged by the unjustified policemen's actions and announced their intention to file a complaint about the violation of their rights.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 31, in Volgograd, several dozen people were detained at an action in support of Alexei Navalny. 28 activists were fined for violating the established procedure for organizing a public event; one person was arrested for five days.

Policemen drew up a protocol against the Volgograd activist, Vladimir Kruglyakov, under Part 5, Article 20.2, of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses (a violation of the procedure for holding a meeting, rally, demonstration, march or picket) because of his participation in the actions on January 23 and 31. The activist himself told about this. "I treat it as an attempt to put pressure on me for my political activities," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On January 31, law enforcers also detained the activist, Galina Zabolotneva, who complained about unjustified actions of a policewoman. "The police wanted [to incriminate] with participation in the rally, referring to the video. In this video, I am standing alone, and there are only policemen around. That is, I was standing with a solo picket," the activist said.

Vladislav Murashkin, a 38-year-old resident of Volgograd, who was detained on January 31 by men in civilian clothes, said that no protocol had been drawn up against him. According to Vladislav, he was detained at the Pionerskaya stop and taken to police station-4, from which he was released with an obligation to appear on February 4. On February 5, the activist left an appeal on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Russia about the violation of his rights. "I wrote that people in civilian clothes 'had screwed me up,' without introducing themselves and without explaining the reason for the detention. I wrote [that] they seized things without an act and that they kept me at the police station for more than three hours," Mr Murashkin has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 6, 2021 at 08:41 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.