VIENNA, January 28./TASS/. The use of riot control weapons and police brutality at protests in the US and certain European countries have become common practice, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday at an online meeting of the organization’s Permanent Council.
He was speaking against the backdrop of reaction from certain OSCE member countries to action of Russian police officers at unsanctioned rallies on January 23. Russian police officers "used force only when they were being directly attacked," Lukashevich stressed.
"No water cannons, firearms and tear gas," the envoy emphasized. "And this comes against the background of developments in the US and certain countries of Europe, where the use of these riot control means and in general police brutality verging on tortures has become common practice," the diplomat said.
He cited an example when US police used smoke grenades to disperse protesters at the Capitol building in Washington on January 6, and firearms were also used. "All global media outlets showed a tragic video about a Capitol security guard who had fired almost point-blank at a woman, a veteran of the US Air Force, Ashli Babbit. She later died in hospital. Let me note that the woman was not armed and posed no danger," he reiterated.
He also drew attention to ‘a witch hunt’ against participants in the protests at the Capitol, who are facing up to 20 years in jail, while Joe Biden, who was President-elect at the time, told a news conference that the protesters were "a riotous mob of insurrectionists, domestic terrorists".
"Compare this to a rampant wave of accusations targeting Russia, where short protests were much calmer, with a much more humane control by law enforcement forces. A logical question arises to esteemed American colleagues - how comes that protesters at the Capitol are terrorists, while aggressive supporters of Alexey Navalny are peaceful protesters?" Lukashevich asked.
Unauthorized protest rallies in support of arrested opposition figure Alexey Navalny were held in Moscow and other major cities across Russia on January 23. National law enforcement agencies warned about liability for participation in such rallies. According to a TASS medical source, 42 law enforcement officers sustained injuries of different severity, while some protesters were also injured.