Dangerous 10-year-olds

Moscow police have detained a 10-year-old girl after the director of the school where she studies told the Ministry of Internal Affairs that the fifth grader was using an avatar with yellow and blue colors [the colors of the Ukrainian flag] in a chat with classmates. The girl's mother informed the human rights group OVD-Info about the situation. OVD-Info has not disclosed the name of the mother and child.

According to the mother, at the end of September she was summoned to the "School in Nekrasovka" to discuss why her daughter was missing "Conversations on Important Things" - the new patriotic classes that began this school year. At the meeting, the woman was questioned about her daughter's avatar, and was told that another classmate's parent had complained that her child had posted a survey about war and peace in the chat.

On September 29, the school principal wrote to the Department of Internal Affairs for the Nekrasovka district. In her letter, quoted by OVD-Info, she commented on the girl's academic performance, and also asked MVD to "examine the living conditions of the family and establish cause-and-effect relationships for such a child's behavior, her civic attitude." The director also asked the police to "alter the educational position" of the mother.

The mother said that, at around 10 a.m. on October 5, the police detained the girl while she was at school. While the woman was on her way to get her daughter, a police officer and a juvenile inspector asked the fifth-grader if her mother worked, what she did, and how the family spent their free time. Then the police took the girl to the offices of Ministry of Internal Affairs, and her mother was brought there separately. “In front of the crying child, security forces rudely led the mother to the [school] exit,” OVD-Info wrote.

The mother and daughter were questioned by police, along with guardianship authorities, for three hours at the offices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In particular, they were interested in why the girl had chosen an avatar with this particular combination of colors. Employees of the Center for Combating Extremism also read the messaging and email correspondence on the woman's phone. As a result, the police drew up a protocol stating that they had brought the minor to the station and took down her explanations.

After some time, the police visited the family's home and, without presenting a warrant or any required documents, began to examine the correspondence and search history on the mother's phone and laptop, and also "rummaged through the bed linens," the mother said. Recently, the juvenile inspector told the mother that they were going to put her family on a watch list.

Source: Meduza