The key facts
- Nina Ostanina appealed to Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev asking him to verify the circumstances of the raid at Kitay-gorod on November 7
- According to media reports, on the evening of November 7 police detained several hundred people, including minors, and took them to the Basmanny and Tagansky police stations
- Parents reported difficulties accessing the stations and untimely notification of their children's whereabouts
Lawmaker demanded an MVD report on the raid at Kitay-gorod
Nina Ostanina, chair of the State Duma committee on family protection, sent a letter to Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev asking him to verify the circumstances of the detention of around 150 young people in central Moscow on November 7, Life.ru reports. The newspaper Vedomosti specifies, that the request concerned the goals and procedures of the raids, the total number of detainees, the grounds for drawing up administrative reports, as well as the exact number of protocols and the number of people released without them.
What raised questions for the lawmaker
In her appeal, Ostanina cited complaints from detainees and their parents: according to them, police officers did not always explain the reasons for taking people to police stations, and some young people were taken away without any signs of alcohol intoxication. Separate complaints concern minors: parents reported that they were not notified in a timely manner of their teenagers' whereabouts, legal representatives' access to the stations was difficult, and some young people spent more than three hours in police vans and stations. The request, which Gazeta.Ru writes about, also raises the question of verifying reports of physical force being used against detainees and assessing the police's actions for compliance with the law.
What the State Duma requested and what is known about the raid itself
Ostanina asked the MVD to provide the exact number of people taken to the police, to specify how many of them were minors and how many had administrative protocols drawn up against them, and also to find out how many teenagers were released without any paperwork and whether any of them were placed on preventive registration. The lawmaker demanded verification of whether detainees' rights were explained to them, whether they were given the opportunity to make a phone call, and whether requirements for keeping minors and adults separately were observed. At the same time, she emphasized that she supports the police's preventive measures provided that the law and children's rights are respected.
The course of the raid and the police's position
On the evening of November 7, the capital's police detained several hundred people, including minors, in the Kitay-gorod area and took them to the Basmanny and Tagansky police stations: on the street, officers checked documents and asked about alcohol consumption, and those who could not confirm their identity or showed signs of intoxication were taken in for verification. According to Life.ru, more than ten police vans arrived at the Gorka park, and young people were brought to police stations from alleys, bars and clubs; relatives were already reporting difficulties in obtaining information about their children at the time. The capital's main MVD directorate had earlier explained the raid by the need to maintain public order and suppress administrative offenses, including drinking alcohol in public places. The MVD's response to the lawmaker's request has not yet been published.
