MOSCOW, April 1 (RAPSI) – Russia’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkova believes that such punishment as administrative detention must not be applied to single fathers having children under 14.

According to the existing legislation, courts impose administrative detention in extraordinary circumstances for certain offences and is not applied among others to women having children under 14, the Ombudsman stated in her annual report.

However, Moskalkova notes, currently, administrative detention may be applied to single fathers with minors under 14.

According to Russia’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, the law places the parties in a position of inequality because in this situation the children’s interests are prioritized regardless of the sex of a parent subject to administrative penalty.