· Political prisoners   · St. Petersburg & Leningrad region  · Moscow city & Moscow region 

Statement by the Memorial Human Rights Centre 

On 5 and 6 December 2011 during protest actions against mass falsifications that occurred during the State Duma elections of 4 December, large scale detentions of demonstrators took place. In Moscow almost 900 people were detained, in St. Petersburg – more than 400. The use of force by police was obviously disproportionate and was accompanied by numerous violations of the law. The demonstrators were beaten up both during detention and subsequently. Many journalists working at the scene were detained or suffered from police action. The law was also broken on innumerable occasions in police stations. People were kept in unacceptable conditions for many hours. The small premises in which they were kept were overcrowded. Contrary to all rules, there was no place to sleep; people were not fed and along with that parcels were not accepted for those detained. In many cases lawyers were not allowed to enter police stations. [Read more]