
Hi everyone, I would like to ask advice on a special situation.
I live in Germany for 6 years, I’m a permanent resident – everything was fine, until recently. My problem is that getting a German passport is a long path and while I’m still on it for a year or two, I’m still technically a citizen of Russia. And although I’m absolutely not connected to Russia in any way, it means that all recent EU sanctions apply to me automatically too. Last year for example I could no longer fly my mini-drone (I make music and flying a drone is important to me to shoot videos). I could cope with that, but then recently my bank account got blocked, the one I used for 6 years, just because of my nationality. So I decided to take action. I wrote everywhere, to Anti-discrimination agency, to Bundestag, to European Commission. I thought there were laws that prohibit discrimination on the grounds of nationality. There aren’t.
So when I realized there’s nothing I can do, and that I can keep losing rights, be living in fear every new day thinking what could happen next, I decided to make a peaceful protest. I build a cage, “A Citizenship Cage”, painted in white-blue-red to symbolize Russian flag ([here](https://imgur.com/a/tDEoRo8)’s a picture to get undestanding). The idea was that I bring this cage to a central square and stay there for some days, locked inside, while the keys from the cage would be sent to some politicians. So I did this yesterday at Marienplatz in Munich where I live. Unfortunately when the police came, they decided to take action quickly, and demolished the cage with manpower. I can understand it, such a cage might be seen dangerous, but the problem is they didn’t even try to speak to me or anything. I spent so much time building it, so I tried to hold the cage together with my arms to prevent it from falling apart, but it didn’t help. Then I started to take a video capturing this brutality and my phone was immediately snatched from my arms. When the roof was gone, they picked me up, threw on the ground, put handcuffs on me and sent me to a police station. After one hour or two they let me go, giving me a paper that said I grabbed a policeman and that my phone was confiscated as a measure.
What can I still do in this situation? I know I can ask the local court to investigate this and potentially return me my phone and clear me of any charges. But what else can I do? How can I report police misconduct? Is it done via local courts or human rights organizations? I want to try and challenge the police’s actions – I mean they damaged the cage and also gave me some injuries. I went to the doctor yesterday to document marks on my arms, wrists, shoulder, neck and knee. It’s so ridiculous to me that they claim I grabbed them, while I was the one sitting already locked inside? Of course in this limited text I can not describe everything and all the events, and of course I wasn’t perfect either, maybe I should have proactively approached them while they were circling the cage. Maybe I should have contacted them beforehand and let them know my plans (but one-man protest you don’t have to register?) Anyway, I’m seeking any advice because I can’t just let it be. I escaped Russia to live in a safe place where I wouldn’t be afraid of police, but now I have a feeling it’s the same? 😔
3 comments
You have to register your protest first. I think this was the problem and the reason they have done what they’ve done
Please remove the picture or crop out the qr code. There’s no need for you to promote your social media.
You picked the dumbest way to go.
If your bank account is blocked or you can’t pilot your drone because discrimination, the solution isn’t a protest but to hire a lawyer and sue or negotiate to get your way.
Usually it’s as easy as
a) the lawyer sending a letter requesting for the bank account to be unfrozen
b) requesting a permit to fly your drone
In any case, if you fly your drone outside super busy areas or areas of high security nobody cares.
Go smart, not full retard pls