Moscow police arrested several Falun Gong practitioners and supporters on March 25, despite the fact that the practitioners, arrayed in front of the Chinese Embassy, were acting in accordance with Federal law.
The practitioners were protesting the persecution of Falun Gong in China. Their actions were in compliance with Federal Law #54, passed on June 19, 2004, which governs "assemblage, meetings, demonstrations, cortege and vigils." However, Russian police broke up the demonstration and arrested several practitioners.
This marked the second such incident; on March 24, a dozen practitioners were arrested while peacefully protesting in the same location. Further arrests followed on March 26.
The protests were triggered by the impending visit of Chinese Communist Party leader Hu Jintao, who is scheduled to arrive on the 26th. The CCP's bloody crackdown on Falun Gong in China has resulted in hundreds of thousands of incidents of illegal detention and torture, as well as uncountable deaths due to torture and abuse.
According to Ivan Shkodyuk, the chairman of "The Center for Spiritual and Physical Self-Improvement" Falun Dafa, about 40 people came to the Chinese embassy to welcome Russia's " Year of China" and to peacefully appeal against the CCP's genocidal policy towards Falun Gong practitioners in China.
"We have not heard any lawful reasons, any references from the federal law that could explain the police's actions," Shkodyuk claims. "We were warned that if we staged our appeal, we would be detained, and they would do everything possible to stop us."
Shkodyuk is confident that the protestors' purposes "do not contradict either moral or ethical standards, nor the requirements the Russian Federation legislation and Russian constitution."
From the very beginning, policemen started tearing posters out of the hands of Falun Gong adherents, pushing them away from the Chinese embassy.
Participants Comment
"We felt a lot of pressure. It started yesterday—single picketing was interrupted, and the participants were taken to the police station. It is sad that police, who are supposed to protect us, in fact infringe upon our rights. We hope that this incident will be settled and will never happen again. Yesterday, after our detention, they didn't return our property, the posters. It is strange that the militia illegally robs us."
"They never introduce themselves. That way it is easy to commit misdeeds. Our passports were taken away initially, but were returned later because they could not make up the corpus delicti . So we were released. But we could not get back our property."
"We hope that this situation would be changed. I came from Pyatigorsk for some days to participate in this peaceful activity, to plead against the crimes against humanity. But unfortunately, even such peaceful actions are being broken ruthlessly. As far as we know, police behave this way because of the pressure from Chinese officials. In China, they harvest our organs, here, in Russia, they do not let us hold peaceful appeals."— Oxana Tchetkina
"It does not matter where, in which corner of the world people are being killed. If we stay indifferent, then at any moment it may happen to us too. We came out to protect our rights—the rights of citizens of Russia."— Fenia
"I was threatened that they [the police] would insist on my expulsion from college. I was told that I have no right to be there. Lieutenant-Colonel Danchenko declared that he would personally expel me from college."— Mr. Polohov, student at the Moscow Medical Academy
"There are no laws for them! Brutal violations of human rights. All the talk about democracy in our country is not based in reality. Once again the situation has shown that it is very hard for an honest person to prove anything."— Ms. Kim
"Police officers have forcefully taken away our banners, they were crumpling them and throwing rudely on the ground. We made these banners at our personal expense; we have spared no time or effort for the future of Russia, so that our country would not kneel to China."— Oshirova
"The situation is lamentable. We have come out to express our civil stance, our insubordination to the evil, that is happening in Russia; because honest citizens, worthy residents of our country are not allowed to come close to the [Chinese] embassy, those people are evil's accomplices. We have stepped forward to support Truth, Compassion and Tolerance. If they are against Truth, Compassion and Tolerance, they are supporting the evil. This is a voluntary choice by these people which will affect their future."— Leonova
"We, peaceful citizens, have stepped forward to protest. In China unlawful things are happening—organs for sale, for profit are harvested from live Falun Gong adherents. This is happening with the support of the government."— Tamara Kim
"What happened to us today is an utter violation of all laws. We came out to tell people that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is violating human rights. We even did not have time to unfold our banners—the police were already bringing us to their station as if we were criminals."— Surova
"An utter human rights' violation is happening. It is a shame that in our homeland we have no right to freedom of expression. It is only words, that our country is democratic. It is very painful to feel I have no rights. We came all the way from St. Petersburg; we drove for over 12 hours to tell people the truth, to show our banners. Police are using any means to tear them away from our hands, crumple them and throw them on the ground."— Segalina
"They are asking us to take off our yellow scarves. Because I am wearing a yellow scarf, they asked me to show my documents and wanted to send me straight to the regional police station. It turns out that pedestrians cannot wear yellow scarves—they are immediately counted as adherents of Falun Gong."— Averina
"We have come for a peaceful protest, which does not require permission from the prefect. Police have encircled us and did not allow us to hold the activity. First, they put the organizers of the event in the police car, then all the men. Now there are only women left holding flags. All the banners have been taken away as well. A tall colonel grabbed me personally and dragged me to the car, told me that he would lock me up for 15 days. I escaped. Now I am still standing here, and I hope the situation will change."— Ms. Surova
Illegal Detention
Policemen detained 22 alleged participants of the protest and brought them to the Ramenki regional police department, thus interrupting the scheduled public event.
According to legal experts, since the legal grounds for arrest and detention were unclear, the actions of police officers, under certain circumstances, can be treated as obstructing the realization of the constitutional right of the citizens for carrying out public activities, which could result in criminal punishment according to Article 149 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Legal experts agree that an appeal to the office of the Prosecutor and to the Court would be a logical step, substantiated by the facts, for the participants of the protest.
Notice of the event had been submitted, the organizers said, in accordance with Article 54 of the Federal Law. Only this notification is required to conduct public activities; the permission of local authorities is not needed.
As Ivan Shkodyuk said, "Our actions were lawful, which has been proven by three courts: the courts of Krasnoyarsk, St. Petersburg and Moscow. Any actions undertaken by the police in terms of obstructing our activities, are, in fact, violations of the law. The city authorities should only confirm the location and time of the event."
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