A few days ago, Pavel Chikov, Head of the human rights organization Agora, offered a reward of 100,000 rubles for information about the policeman who hit activist Daria Sosnovskaya in the stomach with his fist during Saturday’s rally on Sakharov Avenue in Moscow.
On August 12, the media outlet Baza published the alleged offender’s name and called on the police authorities to check Sergei Tsyplakov, who serves in the 5th battalion of the 2nd operational regiment of the Interior Ministry’s Main Directorate in Moscow, for involvement in the beating. The journalists claim they got information from Tsyplakov’s colleagues.
When reached by Baza, Tsyplakov declined comment on the situation, blocked the correspondent on social media and deleted all photos from his own profiles. Baza urged the police to hold the officer liable if the version was confirmed.
Pavel Chikov was about to hand over the reward to Baza editor Nikita Mogutin; however, the latter asked the human rights defender to spend the money on other good deeds. It is likely that the sum will be given to Daria Sosnovskaya so that the activist, who is facing a trial, could her lawyer’s fee. In turn, Sosnovskaya filed a complaint with the Investigative Committee over the incident.
In mid July, Russians started protesting against the authorities’ refusal to register opposition and independent candidates for the Moscow City Duma elections. 14 people are defendants in the criminal proceedings under Art. 318-1 (using force against against a public officer) and Art. 212-2 (participation in mass disorders) after their showing up at the rally on July, 27 and August, 3.
As reported earlier, the Russian police detained about 339 people in five Russian cities over the recent protests that took place on August, 10. In Moscow, about 50,000 people gathered for an authorised rally.
