Two pensioners detained in Sochi for pickets against constitutional amendments

Galina Lazorskaya and Lyubov Nikolaeva have been detained by law enforcers of Sochi during their action against amending the Constitution.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, set July 1, 2020, as the voting date on constitutional amendments.

The 62-year-old pensioner, Galina Lazorskaya, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that on June 22, the day of remembrance and grief, she decided to go out to a solo picket against the adoption of constitutional amendments.

She went out to the Flag Square near the Sochi Mayoralty with posters "I express distrust of Putin and Government", "No to the usurper!" and "Don't be fooled!"

"A woman of retirement age approached me and expressed her solidarity with me and with what is written on my posters," Ms Lazorskaya said.

According to her story, the woman apparently decided to help her; she unfolded the posters lying on the bench and stood with them some fifty meters away. "Both of us were detained and forcibly taken to the police for interrogation. They made a protocol on me, and she was taken as a witness," Galina Lazorskaya has added.

Anna Kolmagortseva, who became an involuntary eyewitness of the incident, believes that the women committed no violations.

"I became an eyewitness of the detention of two elderly women who held solo pickets at a considerable distance from each other. I believe that everyone in our country has a constitutional right to express his/her opinion and civil position; and this attitude to citizens' rights is ignoring the Constitution, "she told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 23, 2020 at 02:16 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.