State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Yuri Sinelshchikov appealed to Russian Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev with a request to look into the facts of alleged ill-treatment of citizens who were detained during unauthorized rallies in support of blogger Alexei Navalny on January 23 and 31.
The fact that this is the position of not an individual deputy, but the party as a whole is evidenced by the fact that Sinelshchikov’s appeal was published on the official website of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“I ask you to inform the Communist Party of the Russian Federation faction in the State Duma about the measures taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation on reports of violations of the rights of citizens subject to detention when moving in vehicles, as well as about the measures you are taking to eliminate the circumstances that contributed to these violations. And also make suggestions on the need to improve laws in this area,” Sinelshchikov wrote.
As confirmation of the facts of ill-treatment of detainees, he cited publications in such liberal media as Novaya Gazeta, Fontanka, and The.Village.
Lately there has been a lot of talk about a split in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation over the Navalny issue. The secretary of the Moscow executive committee of the party, Valery Rashkin, supported the blogger several times, speaking in liberal media. The leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov had to make a public remark to him. Another communist, Moscow City Duma deputy Dmitry Loktev, was expelled from the party for supporting Navalny. At the same time, Zyuganov spoke out in support of communist deputy of the Saratov Regional Duma Nikolai Bondarenko, who was fined for participating in a rally in support of Navalny.