Police at Nawalny demo: One kick too many?

During protests against the imprisonment of opposition activist Alexei Navalny, Russian police took brutal action. A case from St. Petersburg is causing outrage. It was followed by an unusual reaction by the security forces. By Russian standards, it's rare footage that Ren-TV broadcast Sunday: a police officer in St. Petersburg apologizing to a woman he brutally attacked a day earlier during protests against the detention of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. A cell phone video shows a uniformed man wearing a face mask handing flowers to the woman lying in a hospital bed. He had previously been attacked with irritant gas and his visor had been fogged up, the man tries to explain his actions. The incident was a "personal tragedy" for him, he said. "Don't worry about it. Everyone is alive," the victim replies in a weak voice. A police colonel had also visited the woman and apologized to her, Russian media report. What happened there? Kick in the stomach The woman whose story is currently making headlines in Russia is named Margarita J., is 54 years old and comes from a provincial town in the St. Petersburg region. Police officers detain demonstrators during protests in Moscow on Saturday On Saturday, as tens of thousands across Russia answered the call of imprisoned opposition politician Nawalny, demanding his release despite a ban on demonstrations in the streets, Margarita J. is standing on the grand boulevard Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg. She sees police officers taking away a man and asks what he has done. In response, an officer kicks her in the stomach as she passes. It seems as if he wants to push her out of the way in cold blood - like an object. Margarita J. falls to the ground, injures her head and is taken to a hospital. There are contradictory statements about her state of health. At first it was said that she was unconscious. But apparently Margarita J. has since been able to leave the hospital and is receiving further treatment at a clinic in her place of residence. Outrage and ridicule in social networks The incident was filmed by a passerby with a cell phone camera and spread rapidly on the Internet. Outrage, but also ridicule, spread on social networks. The pro-opposition musician and singer Vasya Oblomov published a satirical song in which he mocks a statement made by the policeman in the so-called "apology video." In it, the policeman says his visor was fogged up, whereas the street shot shows it was flipped up. Now there are calls to punish the alleged perpetrator. Boris Vishnevsky, a St. Petersburg City Council deputy for the opposition left-liberal "Yabloko Party," appealed Monday to the relevant authorities to open an investigation. "It is a case of abuse of office with the use of force," Vishnevsky said in an interview with DW. "I hope that the case will end up in court." Is the government trying to ease street pressure? If that happens, it would be an extremely rare occurrence. Police violence at opposition demonstrations is part of everyday life in Russia. Last weekend, too, riot police used batons against Nawalny supporters, and there were thousands of arrests. It is still unclear how many people were injured. Elena Shakhova, head of the St. Petersburg human rights organization "Grashdansky Kontrol" (Civil Control), visited several police stations on Saturday with colleagues to document the treatment of those detained. She met only one man who complained about disproportionate force on the part of the police and was taken to a hospital, Shakhova says. The case of Margarita J. is "extraordinary" for her, she said. "It cannot be justified by anything," the human rights activist says. The violent official and his superiors should be dismissed: "No visits with flowers will help." Boris Vishnevsky considers a trial in this case "very important." The previous approach of the police in Russia is based on the assumption that there are no criminal consequences for officers for violent actions, the opposition politician said. But if police violence is no longer covered by the state, then the officers' behavior would also change, he argued. Against this background, the opposition politician expressed surprise at the apology of the police in his hometown of St. Petersburg. "The mood in society has changed: Citizens are clearly more angry and less loyal to the authorities," Vishnevsky said.