MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax) - Harsh detentions of journalists at the Sunday protests were not widespread, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
"You have to agree that these things were not massive and any generalizations are hardly appropriate here," he told reporters, responding to the question as to whether the Kremlin has paid attention to the beatings and harsh detentions of human rights activists and journalists.
"I am saying once again that every specific situation is important, but it is probably even more important to say once again that we are talking about measures to ensure observance of law and order during illegal events. They key word here is illegal events," Peskov said.
Commenting on the remark that journalists were doing their job at those rallies and were not there to express their position, Peskov again called to refrain from making any generalizations and to consider each specific case separately.
"In general, journalists worked absolutely normally, they were wearing vests, and no one prevented them," he said.
In this context, Peskov was asked to comment on the detention of Mediazona editor-in-chief Sergei Smirnov, who was detained while taking a walk with a child, despite the fact that he did not participate in the January 23 protest.
"He is not charged with participation in a rally. I think he is charged with a different thing, if I'm not mistaken. Ask the law enforcement agencies. It's not a prerogative of the presidential administration, but one should not manipulate facts here, one should call everything by its correct name," Peskov said.
The police made a protocol against Smirnov based on a repeat administrative violation in the organization of a public event. The offense is punishable by up to 30 days of administrative arrest.
On Saturday, it emerged that Smirnov was apprehended by police while out walking with a child. Later, Mediazona said that the Tverskoi district police department was writing an administrative protocol, accusing the editor-in-chief of obstructing traffic during an unsanctioned rally on January 23, even though he was at home on that day and only went out to walk the dogs. Smirnov had been detained for 24 hours.
According to the investigators, Smirnov reposted a call for people to go to an unauthorized rally on Twitter on January 20, 2021.