The children of a central Russian political...

Human rights activists say the "normal, sober and healthy" parents were targeted after the father, Sergei Pchelintsyev, railed against unemployment, poverty, pension reform and the "illegal dismissal" of GAZ automobile factory workers during a protest rally in the Nizhny Novgorod Region city of Dzerzhinsk last December.

His speech did not go unnoticed, and he was summoned to the regional department responsible for combating extremism and interviewed by officials there, the "For Civil Rights" organization said.

The organization also said that officials demanded that he stop speaking at rallies, threatening to cause problems for his family if he failed to heed their warning.

Pchelintsyev subsequently filed a formal complaint with the police.

The couple"s three children - Maxim, 3, Anna, 2 and infant Dasha - were seized from the family home - one room in state communal accommodation - by local officials accompanied by television cameras on February 12, Pchelintsyev

Pages: [1] 2