Advocates point to law enforcers' illegal actions at detentions of Caucasians in Moscow

During searches and detentions of over 100 natives of the republics of Northern Caucasus at one of Moscow hostels, law enforcers illegally entered one's housing, committed illegal deprivation of freedom, failed to render medical aid and damaged one's property, Tatiana Okushko, a lawyer, believes. Law enforcers were obliged to present court's orders or investigator's warrant for a search, said Maxim Pashkov.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that over 100 natives of Northern Caucasus were detained by law enforcers early in the morning of December 19 in a hostel located at 37 Altufyevskaya Street in Moscow. The detainees said that law enforcers behaved rudely and applied physical force to some of the detainees.

The searches and later detentions were accompanied by such violations like unlawful entry into housing, illegal deprivation of liberty, non-provision of medical aid, and alienation and destruction of property, Ms Okushko has stated.

"In the Russian Federation, there exists a constitutional right to housing. The place where a person lives is his housing. And the person has the right not to let anyone into his housing during inspection dwelling. If it is a search, as it was in the above hostel, tenants should have been presented the court decision authorising a search. Otherwise, what the people who broke into the hostel did was illegal," Tatiana Okushko believes.

According to the lawyer Maxim Pashkov, when conducting a search by law enforcers, they must be accompanied by an investigator or a person, who has been entrusted to hold the action. It is this person, as the lawyer has explained, who is obliged to present a court order to conduct a search of housing, or an investigator's decision on an urgent search.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 22, 2018 at 06:45 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.