‘He hit his head on purpose.’ A Russian cartoon denounces police brutality

Russia’s Committee Against Torture has released an animated video ad denouncing police brutality.

Created by the Moscow-based creative agency Zebra Hero and animation studio Petrick, the clip uses cartoons to illustrate real testimonials by police officers used to try and explain injuries on the bodies of detainees who complained of torture in detention. Read by actors, as well as rockstar and TV personality Andrey Makarevich, all three testimonials are taken from real criminal case files.

“When fighting techniques were applied to [the detainee], he broke away, then purposefully fell to the ground, rolling and hitting his head on the roots of trees and other objects,” one testimonial reads.

According to the Committee Against Torture, three out of four detainee complaints of police torture in Russia are not investigated.

You can donate to the Committee Against Torture here.