In Grozny, police stops sanctioned picket against torture

On June 24, the picket of the "Committee against Torture" in Grozny was interrupted by the police for the poster reading "We are against police's voluntarism!"

At 12:30 a.m., employees of the Chechen representative office of the Inter-Regional Public Organization "Committee against Torture" were holding a picket in central Grozny on the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims. According to organizers, the protest action was attended by over 40 persons; the picket was sanctioned by the authorities.

The main aim of the picket was to notify the public about topicality of the issue of people's abductions and torture by law enforcers.

"The event was held as planned; we admitted no violations of public order. In the course of the picket, journalists had a chance to talk both to human rights defenders and to torture victims. We demonstrated photos of kidnapped persons and exposed posters. Chechen policemen were there to maintain the public order and ensure the picketers' safety. When the event was near its end, one of the policemen suddenly expressed his dissatisfaction with the poster 'We are against police's voluntarism!" and demanded to immediately stop the action," says the press service of the "Committee against Torture".

The verbal skirmish of the protesters with policemen gradually grew up into a scandal. Law enforcement bosses began arriving to the venue. One of them introduced himself as the head of the department of public order. He treated the text of posters as "public slander" and threatened the picketers with the relevant article of the Criminal Code, the press service reports.

As a result, the picket was stopped by the police, the posters were confiscated; and Supyan Baskhanov, the head of the Chechen representative office of the "Committee against Torture" was summoned to the police for explanations.