In the wake of yesterday’s march. Various commissions, and even the Human Rights Commissioner, have already expressed outrage at the police’s actions and said they will look into it. From experience, I can say that the whole inquiry will fizzle out quickly. First and foremost because there won’t be any complainants. People will be too lazy to file statements. And those who do will turn out to be the usual perennial urban cranks who love calling themselves “human rights activists.” Everybody knows these people perfectly well and nobody takes them seriously. Their involvement will only make things worse. We all have very different attitudes toward the “Dissenters’ March,” the “dissenters” themselves, and “The Other Russia” (an opposition coalition). You may think they’re all bastards. That doesn’t change the essence of the idea. Let’s start from the premise that there were absolutely no grounds for beating people with batons. Even if we agree that the demonstrators violated articles of the administrative offenses code, the use of special means on this scale was still completely unjustified. There are special instructions that lay down the rules for using batons, tear gas, and so on. There are also, incidentally, special documents regulating the deployment of OMON riot police in general. Yes, it’s possible that some demonstrators attempted to disturb public order (we won’t get into the legality of banning the march here). BUT! Did the actions of the “dissenters” pose such a public danger that they had to be suppressed so brutally? I’m sure they did not. Why were journalists detained and beaten when, by definition, they were not carrying banners or placards? Why was everyone forcibly herded into the metro? And wasn’t that itself a provocation and a threat to citizens’ life and health? Why the hell were people packed into police vans in such numbers (there should be an instruction covering that too)? And why were the overwhelming majority of detainees held for more than the three hours permitted by law? Was the deployment of OMON units from other regions of the country justified, and who made that decision? And more generally, have the cops completely lost it?! There are a hundred thousand of them in Moscow alone. If they’re ordered not to allow a march, then let them find more sophisticated solutions than simply bringing in OMON from Samara—or wherever—to do all the dirty work. Anyway, there are a lot of questions, and I’d like answers to them, and I’d like to see at least a couple of servants of the bloody regime brought to administrative or disciplinary responsibility. If they want to do it by the book, then we’ll do it by the book. Let’s try to set up some kind of public advocacy effort through LiveJournal. The “DA!” movement is ready to coordinate this work. So here’s the proposal: - We need to find at least 30 people who consider themselves victims of unlawful police actions (those who were beaten, detained for more than three hours, or witnessed unjustified brutality). These people must be ready to file the appropriate statements (we will prepare the form), go to the police and prosecutor’s office to give testimony, and so on. - It is HIGHLY DESIRABLE to involve media workers who got hit over the head or were detained—or better yet, detained for more than three hours (Kashin, we’re waiting for you) - If there are any lawyers familiar with administrative and criminal procedure, welcome. Your help will be badly needed. Naturally, there are no fees or money. - If you have photos or video documenting obvious police lawlessness, let’s gather it all in one place. You can post it in the comments to this entry. Obviously, we’ll comb through all the posted photos ourselves too, but if you help with this work, that would be great. So, if you’re ready to take part, write in the comments. You understand yourselves that nothing anonymous will work here. So write your last name, first name, patronymic, and email address. We’ll contact everyone, prepare forms and templates for all the paperwork, and coordinate everything. If you’re a lawyer, if you’re ready to attend various meetings with Human Rights Commissioners or do something more active than simply filing a statement, make a note of it. Photos and all records of the regime’s horrors—post them in the comments. If you support the idea of the action itself, spread the word. Let’s agree right away that we’re telling political parties to get lost. Unless, of course, it’s help from ordinary rank-and-file members. Organizational or any other help from “The Other Russia” is not accepted. Members of “OR” can (and I think should) take part here in a personal capacity. Let’s also agree that we’ll try not to get hysterical or attempt to organize a Nuremberg trial for the bloody executioners. We’ll simply try, in a businesslike way, to hassle the authorities and the cops a bit using legal methods. Your political views do not matter. You may adore Putin and still believe the police behaved inappropriately, and therefore take part in this action. And finally, if we can’t gather at least 30 people who are ready to work on this, we won’t even start. What’s the point of bothering if people don’t care? And one more important point: do NOT lie. In your statements, write only what actually happened.