The official statement of the NN Committee Against Torture concerning the dispersed “March of the Dissenters” in Nizhny Novgorod

   In view of the organized anti-government rally entitled “the March of the Dissenters” banned by the authorities of Nizhny Novgorod law enforcement agencies have taken special measures to quash the unlawful event. However in fact these measures led to mass violations of rights of people which had nothing to do with the rally.

    The preliminary results are:

–  four protestors who showed no resistance to the police have been detained;

–  dozens of journalists and citizens of Nizhny Novgorod whose only guilt was that they had came to Gorky Square with cameras became victims.

    Four experts of the NN Committee Against Torture were present on

Gorky Square exactly to record the actions of riot police and the marchers. We underline that the NN Committee Against Torture had no relation to the organization and implementation of the rally. 

    We assert that after several anti-president protesters had been detained riot police deployed and moved straight to the journalists covering the event. Alongside the journalists members of the NN Committee Against Torture I. Kalyapin and D. Utukin who videotaped the event were detained. In a police bus which was taking the detained from the square to the Avtozavodsky District Police Station there was not a single protester. Nevertheless the convoying policemen bullied at the journalists, some of the detained were beaten.

    To prove our words we offer you an opportunity to have a personal look at the event. Here are video and photo materials.

   P.S. Some of the detained applied to law enforcement agencies to call to account the offenders and are now making their testimonies as victims (transcript of interrogation of D. Utukin, transcript of interrogation of I. Kalyapin, application).