A Russian man has claimed that he was detained and beaten by police after speaking German in public, the Meduza news website reported Friday.

Vyacheslav Popov, head of logistics at Kudrin Foundation thinktank, wrote on Facebook that he was stopped by a policeman while talking German to a friend during a phone call in central Moscow.

He was taken to a local police station, where he was quizzed on his family's whereabouts and "why he was speaking a 'non-Russian language,'" Popov claimed.



When he refused to answer to questioning, the policemen promised to report him to the security services and threatened that he would be refused the right to leave Russia. They then proceeded to beat him, Meduza reported.



Popov has filed a complaint against the police officer who has since requested a transfer, the website reported.

The Kudrin Foundation was established in 2012 by former finance minister Alexei Kudrin. The foundation conducts research on economic development, entrepreneurship, financial, fiscal, budgetary, social, political issues, international relations, and Russia's legal system development.