08:29, 3 April 2019

Rights defenders state that law enforcers were right during detention of Sochi resident

By using force during the detention of Roman Gabaev in Sochi, who refused to go to the police station, law enforcers acted within the bounds of the law, the "Committee against Torture" (CaT) has concluded. Gabaev insists that he resisted the unjustified detention.

On December 22, 2017, Roman Gabaev was walking with his wife in the park. Law enforcers detained him for drinking alcohol there; later, the court fined him for disobeying a policeman. Gabaev complained about unjustified use of force to him.

When he was detained, Gabaev was beaten on his legs and handcuffed, but this had to be done because he refused to go to the police station, the CaT has concluded. The policemen's demand was correct, because Gabaev and his wife were drunk and had no documents with them, Roman Veretennikov, a CaT's inspector, has noted.

Gabaev also complained that he had received an eye burn from gas from a spray can, when he was transported by a car, but the burn was not confirmed by medical documents, the report says.

Gabaev disagrees with such a conclusion of rights defenders and intends to continue struggling for their rights. According to his version, policemen had no right to demand documents from the people, who did not violate the public order.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 2, 2019 at 11:34 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Svetlana Kravchenko

Source: CK correspondent