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On 28 January ten activists of the Other Russia coalition have been detained in Nizhny Novgorod. The press service of the police department of Nizhny Novgorod Region denied the fact of their detention for several hours. However they were accused of putting up resistance to the police and taken to court. Being asked what kind of resistance it was, the police servicemen claimed that all the young people refused to produce their documents. Right now court session is going in magisdtrate court of Kanavinskiy districr of Nizjny Novgorod. People are being sentenced to five days of administrative custody. Besides, since 10 am there has been no information on whereabouts of Yury Staroverov (aged 26), a press person of the Other Russia in Nizhny Novgorod and a staff member of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society and the Novaja Gazeta supplement in Nizhny Novgorod. According to his relative, he went to work to the office of the Novaja Gazeta. Some of those who were later detained came across him when he was on the way to the office. He didn't appear there. Yury Staroverov is one of those nazbols who were accused on the case of "Decembrists" (peaceful seizure of the president's office in December 2004), Anna Politkovskaja contributed a lot to publicizing their case. She covered all the court sessions. Yury had spent one year in FSB investigation prison and then sentenced to three years. The sentence was suspended. His probabation term was over in December 2008 but the Depadertment to execute punishment has been keeping him under surveillance. He was going to appeal this unlaful surveillance. The Other Russia branch in Nizhny Novgorod has issued a press statement win which they express concern about physical integruty of Yury Staroverov as he has been subjected to numerous threats and provocation committed by the servicement of the special branch to combat organized crime (UBOP) and the FSB.
There are grounds to believe that these acts are connected with the mass rally which the United Russia party staged today in Nizhny Novgorod in Lenin Square. They brought some 7000 people and the governor of the region Valery Shantsev and the mayor of Nizhny Novgorod Bulavinov called on people to prefer Russia-made cars to foreign makes. In the staged rally of suport to Russian automobile industry, representatives of some trade unions participate too. |
 Finnish-Russian Civic Forum about the inhumane treatment and torture in the colonies of Saint Petersburg Vadim Karastelejov, an expert with Novorossijsk Human Rights Committee, was assaulted by two people Police try to search Moscow-based independent weekly New Times for sources to story about elite unit  |
