Russian couple face losing custody of child after protest
Source: Associated Press
Russian couple face losing custody of child after protest
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
August 7, 2019
MOSCOW (AP) Moscows childrens rights ombudsman and other public figures have reacted with outrage to Russian prosecutors moves to remove a 1-year-old boy from his parents because they allegedly took him to an unauthorized protest.
Prosecutors claimed that Dmitri and Olga Prokazov endangered the child by taking him to the July 27 rally in the Russian capital that was violently dispersed by police, and that they handed him to another man who is now being sought on charges of organizing mass riots.
The case against the parents follows a tough police crackdown on rallies protesting the exclusion of opposition candidates from Septembers city council election. Police detained more than 1,400 people during the July 27 protest and rounded up a further 1,001 during another demonstration on Saturday, according to an independent monitoring group.
Childrens rights ombudsman Yevgeny Bunmovich harshly criticized the prosecutors action, denouncing what he called political blackmail involving children. He said he has written to Moscows prosecutor urging him to drop the charges.
Members of the presidential human rights council also criticized the prosecutors action, which comes amid a slew of criminal cases launched in the wake of protests that challenged the Kremlin.
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