KEY POINTS

  • The videos were shot by FSB officers who presented it in Taganov's casefile
  • Yekaterina said Taganov wore a green ribbon but not as a anti-war symbol
  • The incident left the boy scarred that his epilepsy episodes have returned 

The wife of a Russian activist Roman Taganov has shared two videos showing the police beating up her husband in front of their seven-year-old son. Taganov is currently facing charges for attacking officers of the law.

According to Yekaterina Taganova, there were speculations that her husband was beaten up because the boy was clad in yellow and blue, colors representing Ukrainian flags, reported Novaya Gazeta Europe.

She added that both videos were in Taganov’s case file. "One video was shot by an FSB officer from a nearby car, the other was shot by the attacker himself, a senior special case investigator of the Centre for Countering Extremism and Terrorism," she was quoted by the news outlet.

The now-viral footage shows a man in plain clothes attempting to hold Taganov, who was trying to ride off on a scooter with his son. Taganov responds to the assault by punching the man. Following this, another man, the friend of the one in plain cloth, rushes to his colleague’s aid. Together they knock Taganov down to the ground and beats him up. One of the officers is also seen with his knee on Taganov's neck. The panicked child attempts to help his father by trying to pull away from an officer, but he is taken away by another officer.

“Turns out that it was a planned operation that even involved an FSB officer. He was recording everything from a nearby car. My husband was attacked by the officers of the Republic of Adygea Centre for Countering Extremism and Terrorism," Yekaterina said.

In a post on Telegram, Yekaterina said there was a "version that the attack happened because my son's clothes were in the color of the Ukrainian flag." "My husband also wore a green ribbon, but did not publicly mean it as an anti-war symbol," she added.

She said a uniformed police officer visited her on June 7 and showed her a video of the attack on her husband. "This police officer asked me whether I thought that the attack might have been related to the colors of the clothes my son was wearing," she said.

She alleged that her son suffered from nocturnal epilepsy. "For more than 1.5 years, he has not had seizures. But after the attack, there were four of them, two of which were daytime. And this means that his psyche was harmed," she added.

Yekaterina added that Roman now faces up to five years in prison and is deprived of the opportunity to work due to house arrest.

Anti-war protest against Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Saint Petersburg
Russian law enforcement officers detain a demonstrator during an anti-war protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Saint Petersburg, Russia March 2, 2022. Reuters / Stringer .
RELATED STORIES