Dagestani activists treat ban to film law enforcers as unjustified

Djambulat Gasanov, a human rights defender, has challenged in court a policeman's ban on video filming a picket in Makhachkala. Law enforcers are unreasonably demanding not to film them for fear of video recording of violations, local activists have suggested.

Djambulat Gasanov filed a lawsuit against the policeman who demanded from him to stop filming him. The reason for filing a lawsuit was the rude behaviour of the law enforcer, who tried to snatch the phone from his hands, Mr Gasanov has explained. According to his story, on April 20, he was in the square in Makhachkala, where a solo picket was held by the guardian who demanded to return his children. "The policeman approached the picketer and began presenting some claims against him. I turned on the camera on my phone and went up to them to find out the issue. Seeing me with the filming, the police captain rudely began grabbing the phone. Then, he began threatening me with 'taking measures; if I posted this record somewhere," Mr Gasanov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

He treated this as arbitrariness on the part of the law enforcer and sent a statement of claim to the Sovietsky District Court of Makhachkala. "The law does not contain any prohibitions on filming interior officials," the lawsuit says.

Policemen wouldn't like them to be filmed, when they violate the law or make illegal demands on activists, Idris Yusupov, a Dagestani journalist, believes. "It all depends on the situation in which an activist finds himself. If everything goes on as usual, then, policemen don't object to filming. But if there are any violations on their part, then there may already be an insistent policeman's demand to stop filming," Mr Yusupov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 22, 2021 at 07:32 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.