Police in Moscow detained members of a band led by musician Roman Zapolsky (Roma Smile) during an open-air concert in Yuzhnoye Butovo on September 5. According to Zapolsky, officers arrived while the group was playing the Russian national anthem, he wrote on his VK page.
The officers demanded the concert stop, citing a violation of the law on rallies. They explained their actions by saying that "more than two people cannot gather," a provision the musicians could not find in the law, Zapolsky noted.
After the musician questioned them, he and another band member, who was performing in a panda costume, were forcibly pushed into a police car and taken to a station. There, the detainees were fingerprinted, photographed, and asked for the contacts of five close relatives. A lawyer who arrived was not allowed to see the musicians.
After an hour and a half, the musicians were released without a report. They were not given documents on the detention or the seizure of their belongings. Police also took a pepper spray canister from one of the band members.