A Russian couple were warned by their government that their children were going to be taken into care after a video footage of their children amidst a protest was posted online. This incident happens to be a part of the Russian government’s backlash to the on-going protests.
Dmitry and Olga Prokazov, along with their children, were featured in a YouTube video with a notorious soundtrack that painted the protestors marching in the street as organized violence. In this video, a man named Sergei Fomin had taken the couple’s baby and carried it along with hm.
In the YouTube video, Fomin was painted as the main perpetrator and the ringleader of the crowd; he is now facing charges for “mass unrest” and will appear in court.
According to The BBC, the Russian government had lodged a criminal case against the couple and is seeking to press charges against them as they believe that the couple had handed over their baby to Fomin to help him escape the authorities from detaining him.
The wife Olga expressed that Fomin was their close cousin, and that he generally played with their children. She further added that they were all headed home, and that the police were nowhere to be seen while they were making their way back home.
“If you watch the video, there is no evidence that something bad is happening with the baby. And that was really the grounds for our authorities to initiate a criminal case and a lawsuit against ordinary people,” said the couple.
As of now, nearly a dozen protestors are facing charges and may potentially face severe consequences. Critics said that efforts such as these are simply used as scares to prevent common people from protesting on the streets and expressing their dissent.
The family is now awaiting a court hearing scheduled next week. It was reported that prosecutors are looking for other parents that had brought their children to the protests.
“It’s like a nightmare,” said the father, who may end up losing his children to child care over the fact that his family was walking back home while the protests were taking place.
image source: BBC