Human rights defender Sergey Basmanov detained at protest rally in Sochi

Today, opposite the railway station in Sochi, a rally of people discontented with the results of the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation was held. During the protest action, the human rights defender Sergey Basmanov, Director of the organization "Defence of Citizens' Rights and Interests", was detained.

Today, many Russian cities host protest actions, at which participants express their discontent with the results of the elections. The cities of the South Federal District (SFD) and the North-Caucasian District (NCFD) participate in protest actions. In the SFD, residents of the Krasnodar Territory show the greatest activity: out of 12 cities, which declared their intention to hold protest actions, six cities represent Kuban. During the protest action in Krasnodar, policemen detained participants.

About 300 people – representatives of oppositional parties, members of NGOs, human rights defenders, activists, and ordinary citizens – attended the action, which started in Sochi at 2:00 p.m.

The participants of the action learned about it through the communities established in social networks. Thus, the group "Sochi speaks for fair elections" in the network "VKontakte" counted 707 people before the protest action.

"Our action is not a rally, a picket or a procession. And, therefore, it does not require the authorities' permission," says Valery Suchkov, the participant of the action, the member of the Urban Development Council of Sochi.

About 2:00 p.m., law enforcement agents detained the human rights defender Sergey Basmanov. When asked about the reasons for his detention, the policemen gave no answer.

After the today's protest action, its organizers and participants plan to hold several other protest actions. They plan to start submitting applications for the pickets and rallies on December 12.