Statement by National Security Council Spokesman Mike Hammer on Detention of Peaceful Protestors in Russia

The White House - Office of the Press Secretary - May 31, 2010

The United States regrets the detention of peaceful protestors in Moscow and Saint Petersburg expressing their support for the thirty-first article of the Russian Constitution guaranteeing freedom of assembly. The reports of beatings by people associated with law enforcement, the rough handling of those detained, and deplorable conditions of detention do not correspond to universal norms assuring citizens freedoms of expression and assembly.