In March 2022, just weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin authorized the country’s security agencies to place Russian citizens and foreigners in pretrial detention centers (SIZOs) without a court ruling for “opposing the special military operation,” according to a report by the human rights project Pervy Otdel (lit. “Department One”).
The claim is based on documents from Russia’s Investigative Committee reviewed by the group. One document describes the detention of an unnamed Russian citizen whom the Federal Security Service (FSB) sent to a pretrial detention center by citing a “decision of the President of the Russian Federation dated March 8, 2022, on organizing the reception and placement of persons opposing the special military operation.”
No criminal case had been opened against the detainee. The Investigative Committee also refers to a “temporary instruction” regulating how detention facilities operate under wartime circumstances. Under these rules, representatives of the Russian Armed Forces, the FSB, the Interior Ministry and the Federal Protective Service (FSO) can send individuals to pretrial detention centers for “opposing the special military operation.”
The existence of such an order had not been previously reported. Neither the presidential decision nor the “temporary” instruction are publicly available.
The rights group says the practice contradicts Russia’s Constitution, in which Article 22 guarantees that the deprivation of one’s liberty is only allowed after a court ruling.
