MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax) - Four participants in an unauthorized protest were detained near the building of the Federal Service for the Enforcement of Punishments' Main Department for the Nizhny Novgorod region on Sunday, a source in the law enforcement agencies told Interfax on Monday.
The protesters, who were holding slogans saying, "We are against torture and arbitrariness" and "You didn't give people life, you have no right to take it," were detained at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The protesters were accused of violating Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Violations (violations of the procedures governing the organization of rallies, demonstrations, marches or pickets), which is punishable by a fine of 20,000 to 30,000 rubles or up to 50 hours of compulsory labor.
The press service for the Interior Ministry's Main Department for the Nizhny Novgorod region told Interfax the detainees are residents of the city of Pavlovo, Nizhny Novgorod region. All of them are unemployed and one has a previous conviction for theft.
"The men put their slogans on a fence opposite of the entrance to the Main Department of the Federal Service for the Enforcement of Punishments. The police took the detainees to Nizhny Novgorod's Police Station No. 7. They were released after the protocols were made," the press service said.
"The men said they were demanding the observance of the legislation governing inmates' living conditions in detention facilities and prisons," the source said.