Court releases journalist detained in Makhachkala

The Sovietsky District Court of Makhachkala has returned the case of journalist Idris Yusupov, who was detained on charges of disobedience to law enforcers, back to the police to correct the deficiencies.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 22, Idris Yusupov, a correspondent of the "Novoye Delo" newspaper, was taken to a police station after video filming law enforcers' raids near the Salafi mosque. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) claimed that he refused to show his documents and explain the reasons for his video recording.

According to Idris Yusupov, when he was doing the photo and video filming, an unidentified man came up to him, and "without introducing himself, demanded to delete the filmed materials."

"He said that he knew that I was a journalist and didn't ask me to show my documents. He spoke with me in a categorical manner, saying that he'd teach me a lesson; he grabbed me by my arm and dragged me to a police car. Only there, he showed me his ID," said the journalist.

Idris Yusupov has stressed that he did not resist and got into the car.

According to his version, he was kept for about five hours at the Sovietsky ROVD (District Interior Division). "Only by 5 p.m. I learned that a protocol was drawn up against me for my alleged disobedience to policemen," said Idris Yusupov.

He noted that the court session passed "very quickly." "The judge examined the protocol and stated that it was drawn up with mistakes, and [the judge] could not make a decision thereon," said the journalist.

According to Idris Yusupov, he lodged an application to the Dagestani MIA demanding to check the lawfulness of policemen's actions, who had brought him to ROVD.

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