Blackfire Posted March 8, 2023 Posted March 8, 2023 Two Moscow police officers identified by the BBC as perpetrators of abuses against female anti-war protesters have been sanctioned by the EU. The EU accused Ivan Ryabov and Alexander Fedorinov of arbitrary arrest and torture. They were among nine people and three institutions sanctioned over sexual and gender-based violence, to coincide with International Women's Day on Wednesday. Others included Taliban ministers and officials from South Sudan and Myanmar. A BBC Eye investigation detailed how Ivan Ryabov was identified by protesters who had been physically abused by him when they were detained in March 2022. Alexander Fedorinov was identified by the BBC using facial recognition software. How the ‘man in black’ was exposed by women he terrorised Protests across Russia see thousands detained Announcing the sanctions in a statement, EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Police Josep Borrell said the EU was moving "from words to action" in its commitment to "eliminate all forms of violence of violence against women". He said the sanctions were "enhancing efforts to counter sexual and gender-based violence, to ensure that those responsible are fully accountable for their actions, and to combat impunity". The two Moscow police officers were sanctioned for their role in "arbitrary arrests and detentions as well as torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in the context of the censorship and oppression led by the Russian authorities". On 6 March last year, a group of anti-war protesters were arrested and taken to Moscow's Brateyevo police station. There, at least 11 detainees - mostly young women - were subjected to physical abuse at the hands of a plainclothes police officer. The officer didn't give his name, and there was no record of him on any police websites. The protesters felt they had little chance in identifying their abuser, who they called the "man in black". That was until a huge data leak from the po[CENSORED]r Russian food delivery app, Yandex Food, provided the breakthrough they needed. Anastasia - who says she had been suffocated with a plastic bag by the "man in black" - trawled through the data and found only nine users who had ordered food to Brateyevo police station. Working with the other victims, she searched the names and phone numbers included in the leak, looking for pictures she recognised. Finally she came across a face that was imprinted in her memory - it was the "man in black" and his name was Ivan Ryabov. Anastasia also wanted to identify another officer who was present that evening and refused to give his name. The detainees had called him the "man in beige". Although he wasn't involved in the abuse of protesters, Anastasia felt he was somehow in charge. "All communication took place through him," she said. Using facial recognition on a short video captured inside the police station, the BBC was able to name the man as Alexander Fedorinov. At that time, he was the acting head of the Brateyevo police department. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64838937
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