Court finds detention of journalist Khatukaeva at rally in Makhachkala illegal

A Makhachkala court has supported Inna Khatukaeva, a correspondent of the "Chernovik" (Draft) weekly, who demanded to recognize her detention at a rally in support of the oppositional leader, Alexei Navalny, on January 23 unlawful.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 23, law enforcers detained Khatukaeva. She did not violate the law on mass media, but fulfilled the task of her editorial board, Magomed Magomedov, a deputy editor-in-chief of the "Chernovik", has explained.

Inna Khatukaeva said that when she was filming the detention of people in the square to her phone, a policeman approached her and demanded to stop the filming. The second law enforcer threatened to detain her, and when she continued filming what was happening, she was rudely grabbed and forced into a police bus.

Thus, the policemen violated the journalist's constitutional rights to the freedom and personal immunity, the freedom of movement, and the right to freely receive and disseminate information in a legal way, the court has now ruled.

Ms Khatukaeva is pleased with the ruling; she has noted that her detention coverage by media was "a support."