Russia’s human rights commissioner asked to check legitimacy of March 26 protests arrests

Russia’s human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova will look into the circumstances surrounding the detention of participants of country-wide anti-corruption protests on March 26.

As part of the investigation, Moskalkova has sent inquiries to Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsov, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, and Moscow prosecutor Vladimir Churikov, reported news agency Interfax, citing a commission spokesperson.

The investigation, said the spokesperson, was initiated following a request by Za prava cheloveka (For human rights) executive director Lev Ponomarev and Moscow Helsinki Group chairwoman Lyudmila Alekseeva.

St. Petersburg human rights commissioner Alexander Shishlov was also asked to look into the legitimacy of the detention of protest participants. Shishlov has since sent appropriate inquiries to the city prosecutor’s office and the Interior Ministry. Speaking before the city’s legislative assembly, Shishlov promised to “take the most drastic measures” if “concrete facts” emerge about the unlawful persecution of rally participants.

Shishlov said, however, that “police acted professionally through the very end of the protests.” “We do, on the other hand, have questions for those who coordinated and organized the protests,” he said.

St. Petersburg human rights commissioner also called for facilitating the procedure for pre-approving protests in specially designated places. “The authorities’ [unapproachability] in resolving such issues,” Shishlov stressed, serves only to provoke unauthorized rallies.

On March 26, anti-corruption protests took place in Moscow and nearly a hundred other cities across Russia. In most instances, the protests were not pre-approved by local authorities. Police detained rally participants. In Moscow, more than a thousand people were arrested.

A criminal case of threatening the life of a law enforcement officer was initiated after an attack on a policeman in Moscow. A criminal case of the use of violence against a police officer was initiated in Volgograd against a student at a pedagogical university. No criminal case on hooliganism was previously reported on.

After the protests, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that that teenagers who participated in the mass actions were promised money in the event of their detention. Peskov did not say who specifically had promised the teenagers remuneration.