St. Petersburg police announced the legality of stun guns on April 21 rallies

Explaining the massive use of stun guns against unarmed participants in peaceful rallies that took place in St. Petersburg on April 21 in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny , the police explained that stun guns belong to the category of special equipment included in the equipment of police officers. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the right to use stun guns is described in Article 21 of the Law "On Police".

“The department also said that they had not received any complaints about the actions of police officers. If complaints are received, they will be considered in a legal manner, the Interior Ministry promised", - the Dozhd TV channel reports.

As follows from the text of Article 21 of the Law "On Police", security officials have the right to use stun guns to suppress riots, attacks on a citizen or other employee. Special means are used to suppress a crime or an administrative offense, as well as to resist an employee during the arrest of a person who is trying to escape from the crime scene.

An important feature of the use of special equipment is that before using them, the security forces must warn people about the use of special equipment. They must also give the detainee time to comply with their demands.

Actions in support of the imprisoned politician Alexey Navalny took place across the country on April 21. More than 100 thousand people became their participants, among whom there were especially many women.

According to OVD-Info, as a result of the actions, 1,770 participants were detained, including more than 800 people in St. Petersburg. Human rights activists complained of unjustified cruelty on the part of the security forces, who used stun guns and batons against peaceful unarmed demonstrators.