Pyatigorsk townspeople complain about unjustified detentions and arrests

During actions in support of Navalny in Pyatigorsk, law enforcers inhumanly treated the detainees, while the court ruled on administrative cases, despite absence of proofs, the arrested townspeople assert.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Pyatigorsk court considered 36 cases of those detained on January 31, and ruled to arrest 34 persons and fine one more. The action in support of Alexei Navalny in Pyatigorsk did not take place; however, law enforcers detained more than 40 people in the city centre.

On January 31, in Pyatigorsk, occasional passers-by were detained and placed into a special detention facility for the night, Natalia Kollin, a resident of Pyatigorsk. told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"I didn't rally, I had no attributes, and I shouted nothing – I just walked calmly with my friends. I understand when they detain those who chant slogans or stand with posters. But we are just ordinary people who walked and did absolutely nothing, but they fined me by 10,000 roubles! My brother was arrested for five days, my friend – for 24 hours. Is that fair?" Ms Kollin was indignant.

She has criticized law enforcers for creating a threat of coronavirus infection, and for ill-treatment. "Crowding people is also wrong. They talk about coronavirus, but we had to stand there, along the wall, in a narrow passage. And they didn't even give us water! People asked for it, but they answered: 'We aren't obliged to," Natalia Kollin has concluded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 3, 2021 at 07:56 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.