One of 30 concertgoers injured by Moscow police at May 1 hip-hop festival requests criminal charges

Maxim Sidorenko, a 22-year-old student of Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, has petitioned Russia’s Investigative Committee to bring criminal charges against an unnamed police officer who beat him with a club at the Hip-Hop Mayday festival. Sidorenko’s attorney, Dmitry Julai of the human rights organization Zona Prava, told Meduza about the young man’s complaint.

The incident in question took place on the evening of May 1 when police officers attempted to control unexpectedly large crowds by hitting attendees with clubs or giving them electric shocks. After a small number of concertgoers began tossing fragments of tile at the police, several dozen of the officers began beating those around them indiscriminately.

The police officer who attacked Sidorenko hit him seven times with a club and broke his mobile phone, causing what the student estimates at 40,000 rubles (about $620) in damages. Once hospitalized, Sidorenko was found to have a traumatic brain injury, a concussion, and bruising of the occipital region. His complaint to the Investigative Committee included a video recording.

Warning: The following video openly depicts physical violence.

More than 30 people were reportedly injured at the Hip-Hop Mayday festival, and 11 of them have turned to human rights advocates for assistance after being attacked by police.