Advocates treat actions of law enforcers during detention of journalists in Sochi as unlawful

Legal norms were violated during the detention of the US crew of the "HBO" TV Channel and Alexander Valov and Dmitry Saltykovsky, two Russian citizens, in the village of Vesyoloe-Psou in Sochi. This opinion was voiced by Sochi advocates interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 3, in the Sochi village of Vesyoloe-Psou, law enforcers detained the US crew of the "HBO" TV Channel and blogger Alexander Valov and interpreter Dmitry Saltykovsky, who accompanied the US journalists. The journalists recorded on video "Olympic" cottages of the Olympic heritage fund. By nightfall, the US journalists were released after a warning, while Alexander Valov and Dmitry Saltykovsky were detained for 48 hours.

The journalists were detained in the village of Vesyoloe-Psou with violations. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Alexander Popkov, a Sochi advocate. The men, who detained the journalists, refused to "introduce themselves, present their IDs, or clearly define the cause of their claims and demands against the group of citizens who did not commit anything illegal," the advocate has noted.

According to the media reports, initially, the men who detained the journalists told them that they had been detained for illegal stay in the border zone, reports advocate Alexander Boichenko.

"The border area should be clearly and visibly marked and be equipped with a stationary protected checkpoint. If it is not the case, then this is nonsense," the advocate told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. According to the lawyer, photographing and video recording are not prohibited on the Olympic facility.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.