Police are a public military body of executive authority which is intended for the protection of life, health, rights and freedoms of an individual and a citizen, interests of the community and the state from illegal assaults, the public order and ensure the public security.
Thus, according to the Law of the DPR “On Police”, the police protect the right to freedom and personal integrity of everyone. A person cannot be detained for more than 48 hours before court decision in the cases, which the Law and other laws provide for.
Policemen have right to detain:
1) persons, who are suspected in the crime, and also persons in respect of whom a preventive measure in the form of detention was selected – on the grounds, in the manner and for the period, which the criminal procedure legislation provides for;
2) persons who escaped from custody, persons who evade serving a criminal sentence, from receiving an order to be sent to the place of serving a sentence, or who did not arrive at the place of serving the sentence within the time period established in the specified order, – until their transfer to the relevant authorities, institutions or officials of these bodies and institutions;
3) persons, who evade the execution of an administrative penalty in the form of administrative arrest, – until their transfer to the place of serving the administrative arrest;
4) persons, who are wanted, – before their transfer to the relevant authorities, institutions or officials of these bodies and institutions;
5) persons, in respect of whom, proceedings on cases of administrative offenses are being conducted, – on the grounds, in the manner and for the period, which the criminal procedure legislation provides for;
6) military personnel and citizens of the DPR, called up for military training, suspected of a crime, – before their transfer to the military police of the DPR Armed Forces, commanders of military units or military commissars;
7) persons, who evade the execution of compulsory measures of a medical nature or compulsory measures of educational influence, appointed them by the court, – before their transfer to the institutions ensuring the execution of such measures;
8) persons, who evade going to specialized medical institutions for the execution of compulsory medical measures prescribed by the court, – on the grounds, in the manner and for the period, which the legislation of the DPR provides for;
9) persons, who violated the curfew rules, – on the grounds, in the manner and for the period, which the legislation of the DPR provides for;
10) persons, who unlawfully entered or tried to enter guarded objects – pending clarification of an identity for a term not exceeding three hours;
11) persons, who have attempted suicide or who have signs of a marked mental disorder and who by their actions create a danger to themselves and others, – before their transfer to the medical institutions or at the place of residence;
12) persons, who have escaped from a psychiatric medical institution or are hiding from a court-ordered involuntary hospitalization in such an institution, – before their transfer to the psychiatric medical institution;
13) persons, in respect of whom, a request for extradition has been received, – before their transfer to a foreign state on the grounds, in the manner and for a period, which legislation of the DPR or an international agreement of the DPR provides for.
In each case of detention, the police officer is obliged to perform the actions provided for in Clause 4 of Article 5 of the Law, namely:
– in a call to a citizen, a police officer is obliged to name his post, rank, surname;
– to present, at the request of a citizen, an official identification, and then inform the reason and purpose of the appeal;
– to be tactful and polite, if measures are applied to a citizen that restrict his rights and freedoms, to explain to him the reason, the grounds for applying such measures and the rights and obligations arising in this connection;
– to explain to the detained person his right to legal assistance, the right to an interpreter, the right to notify close relatives or close persons about the fact of his detention, the right to refuse to give evidence.
A detained person has the right to use, in accordance with the law, the services of a lawyer (defense lawyer) and an interpreter from the moment of detention.
Detainees, things and documents with them, as well as their vehicles, are subject to inspection in the manner prescribed by the legislation on administrative offenses, unless another procedure is provided by law.
A detained person, as soon as possible, but not later than 3 hours from the moment of detention, unless otherwise provided by the criminal procedure legislation, has the right to one telephone conversation in order to notify close relatives or close persons about his detention and location. Such notification may be made by a police officer on the request of the detained person.
A protocol is drawn up about detention, which indicates the date, time and place of its drawing up, post, surname and initials of a police officer who drew up the protocol, information about a detained person, date, time, place, grounds and motives for the detention, as well as the fact of notification of close relatives or close persons of the detained person.
The arrest report is signed by the police officer who drew it up and the detained person. If the detained person refuses to sign the protocol, an appropriate entry is made in the arrest protocol. The detained person is handed a copy of the protocol.
Detainees are kept in specially designated premises under guard in circumstances that exclude a threat to their life and health. Before being placed in specially designated premises and after the end of the detention period, detainees are inspected, the results of which are recorded in the detention report.
The General Prosecutor of the Donetsk People’s Republic and his subordinate prosecutors exercise supervision of the observance of law by the police in accordance with the powers granted by the legislation of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
