Law enforcers deny violations during raid to Chechen restaurant "Vesely Babai" in Moscow

The Moscow OMON (riot police) has conducted a raid to the restaurant "Vesely Babai". As a result, visitors of the restaurant, mostly natives of Chechnya, were detained. No charges were filed against anyone of them. Staff members of the restaurant complained about rude actions of the law enforcers. The OMON chiefs reject the accusations.

The raid to the restaurant "Vesely Babai" was conducted by the Moscow OMON in the evening of June 19.

"They made no warnings and said nothing. They entered the restaurant and rudely forced all the visitors and the entire staff to lie down on the floor. They acted as if a special operation was carried out or as if some terrorists were hidden somewhere. They made no explanation, and it was clear lawlessness," Almat, a restaurant administrator, said as quoted by the radio station "Govorit Moskva" (Moscow Speaking).

According to the restaurant administrator, the law enforcers inspected cars of the restaurant visitors, fingerprinted them and checked their passports. At night, the natives of Chechnya were brought to the OVD (Interior Division) of Dorogomilovo; however, no charges were filed against them.

Some video records from the restaurant surveillance cameras have been posted on the Internet, and they show how people in camouflage and masks break into the building, push the visitors and force them to lie on the floor.

In that very evening, Moscow advocate Salamu Musaev was among the visitors of the restaurant. He believes that by their actions, the policemen have clearly violated civil rights of the restaurant visitors. In the morning of June 20, when released from the police station, the advocate field complaints to all the possible public institutions, starting from the Prosecutor's Office and ending with an appeal to Patriarch Kirill, the STRC (State TV and Radio Company) "Grozny" reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.