According to Human Rights Watch information, Ponomarev‘s detention prevented him from attending a scheduled meeting on September 8 with Michael McFaul, a senior member of the US National Security Council, during McFaul’s visit to Moscow.
New detention
The new ruling relates to Ponomarev’s participation in a peaceful anti-government protest, called “A Day of Rage,” in Tverskaya Square on August 12.
At the rally, which was not sanctioned by the authorities, protesters demanded the resignation of Moscow’s mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, for interfering with freedom of assembly.
Two other participants were charged with the same offense earlier and have already served administrative detention sentences of three days in one case and four days in the other.
The police claimed that Ponomarev had “obstructed pedestrian traffic” by standing in the street while he spoke with journalists. Two police officers testified that Ponomarev had resisted arrest by pushing one of the officers and stepping on the foot of another.
Ponomarev, in his testimony, said the officers treated him roughly, dragging him away and threatening to hit him. The court refused to admit into evidence a video recording of the incident.
Immediately after his arrest on 12 August Ponomarev (69) needed to be admitted to a hospital in a state of a hypertonic crisis, a clinical syndrome characterized by a sharp rise in blood pressure.
His court hearing was then postponed to September 7. After the court found Ponomarev guilty, he was taken directly to the special detention center of the Moscow Police Department. According to his colleagues from the Movement for Human Rights, he is attempting to appeal the ruling.
Arrested on August 22
Ponomarev was arrested in the late afternoon on August 22, 2010, when he approached Pushkin Square in Moscow to join a public rally to support the protection of the Khimki Forest Park. Police detained him for several hours, alleging that earlier in the day he had failed to follow an order of a policeman, and released him pending an administrative hearing on August 25.
On the evening of August 25, a justice of the peace upheld the police allegations and sentenced Ponomarev to three days under administrative detention.
In the early hours of August 26, Ponomarev was brought to the detention center of the Moscow Police Department. Prior to his arrival at the detention center, Ponomarev, 68, felt unwell and an ambulance had to be called twice for him during the night. Ponomarev’s lawyer lodged an appeal with the Tverskoi district court, demanding that the ruling on administrative detention be dismissed.
At around noon on August 22, Ponomarev had joined a group of opposition activists who attempted to march through the center of Moscow carrying a Russian flag. August 22 is national Flag Day in the Russian Federation, which commemorates the raising of the contemporary Russian tricolor flag over the Supreme Soviet building after a failed anti-democratic coup d’état attempt in 1991.
At approximately 1:00 p.m. the police apprehended several activists for taking part in that march, which had not been sanctioned by the city authorities. Ponomarev walked away when the police told marchers to disperse. As one of the organizers of a different and officially-sanctioned rally scheduled for 5 p.m. the same day, Ponomarev was taking care to avoid detention.
As he approached Pushkin Square at around 4 p.m. together with Ludmilla Alexeeva, Chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group, he was detained by police for having allegedly disobeyed their orders three hours earlier.
Worsening situation
The European Court of Human Rights, whose judgments are binding on the Russian Federation, has previously held that three days’ deprivation of liberty is a severe penalty for administrative offences allegedly committed while peacefully exercising the right to assembly, and a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. Moreover on this occasion, Ponomarev had dispersed when instructed to, and did not ignore any order.
The Norwegian Helsinki Committee met Lev Ponomarev in his office in Moscow back in 2005. Lev Ponomarev is known in the Russian Federation as an active human rights activist and participant of a number of protest actions in the Russian Federation. The Norwegian Helsinki Committee is worried about the worsening situation of the human rights in the Russian Federation and especially regarding the situation for the human rights activists.
HRH Oslo, based on Human Rights Watch and Norwegian Helsinki Committee information.
Related links:
Russian citizens continue to fight for the right to gather freely
