Police protocols noted that the event was a protest “against militarism and poverty”

~ Scott Harris ~

Four people, including a minor, have been detained in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg after handing out free food to the homeless, rights website OVD-Info reported. All were taken to a police station for “holding an unauthorised event”.

An officer with the police anti-extremism unit, E Centre, pushed out lawyer Artyom Shulman from the station and hit him against the door handle, Shulman told independent media outlet SotaVision .

Two of the detainees, including the minor, were released from the police station later on 6 October after being charged with breaching the order of holding public events. One told SotaVision that he was not beaten whilst in custody. Two others were held by police overnight.

One of the detainees was sentenced by Yekaterinburg’s Kirovsky district court to nine days’ imprisonment for organising an unauthorised event on 7 October, Shulman told SotaVision.

The last one, Nikita Shevchenko, remains unaccounted for a day after he was detained. SotaVision said that he may have engaged in a verbal altercation with an E Centre officer, and was taken to a separate room.

Urals Maoist Union said on 7 October that Shevchenko could not be located: “No one has any information as to where he is or what happens to him. And this is very bad.” The group noted that the activist sentenced to nine days’ imprisonment was not one of their own, and one of those released on 6 October was a member of the union.

Police protocols noted that the event was a protest “against militarism and poverty”. Officers recorded that placards saying “Free handing out of food” and “Food not bombs. Food is a right not a privilege” were displayed.