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      Elections, October 11, 2009              Human Rights









YABLOKO’s Political Platform Adopted by the 15th Congress, June 21, 2008

Key resolutions by the Congress:

 

On Stalinism and Bolshevism
Resolution. December 21, 2009

On Anti-Ecological Policies of Russia’s Authorities. Resolution of the 15th congress of the YABLOKO party No 253, December 24, 2009

On the Situation in the Northern Caucasus. Resolution of the 15th congress of the YABLOKO party No 252, December 24, 2009

YABLOKO's POLITICAL COMMITTEE DECISIONS:

YABLOKO’s Political Committee: Russian state acts like an irresponsible business corporation conducting anti-environmental policies

 

Overcoming bolshevism and stalinism as a key factor for Russia’s transformation in the 21st century

 

On Russia's Foreign Policies. Political Committee of hte YABLOKO party. Statement, June 26, 2009

 

On Iran’s Nuclear Problem Resolution by the Political Committee of the YABLOKO party. October 6, 2009

 

Anti-Crisis Proposals of the Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO. Handed to President Medvedev by Sergei Mitrokhin on June 11, 2009

Brief Outline of Sergei Mitrokhin’s Report at the State Council meeting. January 22, 2010

 

Assessment of Russia’s Present Political System and the Principles of Its Development. Brief note for the State Council meeting (January 22, 2010) by Dr.Grigory Yavlinsky, member of YABLOKO’s Political Committee. January 22, 2010

 

Address of the YABLOKO party to President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev. Political Committee of the YABLOKO party. October 9, 2009

Photo by Sergei Loktionov

The 12th congress of Yabloko


The 11th congress of Yabloko


The 10th congress of Yabloko

THE DEMOCRATIC MANIFESTO

Moscow Yabloko
Yabloko for Students
St. Petersburg Yabloko
Khabarovsk Yabloko
Irkutsk Yabloko
Kaliningrad Yabloko(eng)
Novosibirsk Yabloko
Rostov Yabloko
Yekaterinburg Yabloko
(Sverdlovsk Region)

Krasnoyarsk Yabloko
Ulyanovsk Yabloko
Tomsk Yabloko
Tver Yabloko(eng)
Penza Yabloko
Stavropol Yabloko

Svoboda

ARU TV

Yahoo! News
about Russia

Yahoo! UK&Ireland:
Russian News

U.S. Library of Congress Country Study - Russia

The Moscow Times

The St. Petersburg Times

Russia Today

AllNews.ru

NTV.ru

Interfax

ITAR-TASS

RIA NOVOSTI

Michael Gorbachev

Embassy of the Russian Federation (USA)

Rosbusinessconsulting

The Web Site of The Norwegian Nobel Institute

 

Action of Support

 

Orphanage Zhizh, St.Petersburg, needs your support!

YABLOKO proposes to reduce food-stuffs prices in Russia via grain exchanges and interventions

Press Release, September 2, 2010.

“To prevent growth of prices on bread, cereals and some other basic food-stuffs it is necessary to urgently create grain exchanges, where only grain and grain products producers will get the right to register,” such a statement was made by YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin to journalists earlier today. “This will prevent boosting of prices by a chain of intermediaries, speculators and one-day firms, that have been parasiting on the agrarian sector,” Mitrokhin noted. According to YABLOKO’s leader, creation of grain exchanges will not involve any expenditures from the federal budget, as “trades can take place at electronic trading platforms organised by the Federal Anti-Monopoly Agency”.

“Also today the state has a possibility to restrain price growth by means of grain interventions from the Grain Fund reserves, whereas part of these reserves can be sold via exchanges.” “Application of these two methods will lead to reduction of the growth of prices on agricultural products in a very short term,” Mitrokhin said...

YABLOKO proposed to elect PACE via direct vote

Press Release, August 30, 2010.

Such a proposal YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin put forward at the European Forum Alpbach. The European Forum Alpbach is a kind of analogue of the World Economic Forum in Davos, however, Alpbach focuses on the problems of European integration.

According to Sergei Mitrokhin, the first step in the way of Russia’s integration should be raising of the role of the Council of Europe and new principles of PACE formation. “The Council of Europe should become an instrument for involving Russia into the system of European values, European standards in politics, economy, protection of human rights and environment,” Sergei Mitrokhin said. YABLOKO’s leader proposed to European politicians to make CE more influential via direct elections to PACE with mandatory control over elections in the member states by the Council of Europe. Mitrokhin is also certain that this would be also important for Russia and its movement along democratic way of development.
Debating with RF Ambassador in the EU Vladimir Chizov YABLOKO’s leader raised an issue of development of a common EU strategy towards Russia. According to Sergei Mitrokhin, “this should be a consistent EU strategy towards Russia based on integration rather than confrontation”...

The Chelyabinsk branch of YABLOKO submitted voters’ signatures for registration in the regional election campaign

Press Release, August 30, 2010.

The Chelyabinsk branch of YABLOKO submitted 15,000 voters’ signatures for registration in election campaign to the legislative assembly of the Chelyabinsk region. The Electoral Commission will have to adopt a decision on registration of the party in the elections within 10 days.

In this campaign YABLOKO plans to focus on the environment, which is one of the most acute problems in the Southern Urals. YABLOKO’s list is topped by a well-known ecologist Natalya Mironova. The second slogan of the campaign is “Politics is Women’s Business!” This human rights issue is led by human rights Activist Farima Kobzhasarova...

YABLOKO provided aid to children’s orphanage affected by fires in the Moscow region

Press Release, August 30, 2010.

This summer Byvalino village, Moscow region, was severely damaged by fire. All the buildings by Saint Martyr Nikita Temple burnt down: children’s school by the temple, canteen, archive, sewing shops and prior’s cell. YABLOKO collected money for aid for the victims of fires throughout August. It was decided that part of these funds should go on the purchase of sporting clothes and school supplies for the sunday school, which lost virtually everything during fire: pupils’ private belongings, school supplies, toys and books...

Moldovan President calls for coalition unity ahead of important reforms

LI News Issue 198, August 27, 2010

After the rising of tension in the Moldovan four-party ruling Alliance for European Integration (AIE) coalition, Moldova's Acting President Mihai Ghimpu of the Liberal Party (LI Observer Member pending Congress confirmation) said that it must put an end to infighting if it wants to win the upcoming parliamentary elections. In an interview, President Ghimpu said the alliance had a duty to continue the reforms it set upon: “The AIE [is] responsible not only to its voters, but also to the European Union, which [has] helped [the AIE] to govern.” His remarks came after Prime Minister Vlad Filat of coalition partner the Liberal Democratic Party announced that he might run for President, thereby violating a former coalition agreement. The government coalition, which also holds LI Observer Member Alliance Moldova Noastra, is looking forward to complete a set of important constitutional reforms before the next elections including a reform of the electoral system. The coalition faces fierce opposition from the Communist Party of Moldova, which is the biggest party in the Moldovan Parliament...

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We demand to stop unlawful detentions and toughening of sentences!
Statement by YABLOKO’s Chairman, August 26, 2010.

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO expresses its categorical protest in connection with a court’s sentence to renowned human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov. This sentence is another example demonstrating the use of force when citizens try to realise their constitutional rights. Grave violations of the law and the use of force in detentions and fraudulent evidence in trials have become an everyday practice for the interior. The courts acting in Stalin’s style are guided by the idea that the law enforcement are always right and protesting or dissenting citizens are necessarily criminals.

YABLOKO welcomes the decision by President Medvedev to suspend works in the Khimki Forest
Press Release, August 26, 2010.

“The YABLOKO party welcomes the decision by President Medvedev to suspend works in the Khimki Forest. We hope that the route of the new highway Moscow – St.Petersburg will be revised,” said YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin.

Mitrokhin also noted that YABLOKO has been fighting against the present project of the highway envisaging cutting of a substantial part of the Khimki Forest for three years already, since this project emerged.

ALDE requests plenary debate on the Roma situation in the EU
Press Release, ALDE, August 24, 2010

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe deeply regrets that several European governments have brazenly stigmatised the Roma community over these past summer months. "The exiling of German-born Roma children to Kosovo, the military-style dismantling of Roma camps in France, the massive expulsions, and the encouragements of an Italian minister to carry out openly xenophobe policies, are sad events for the European Union whose values have been ridiculed", deplores Guy VERHOFSTADT, president of the group who requests a declaration from the Council and the Commission on the Roma situation in Europe for the next Strasbourg plenary. "The Parliament must remind Europe of our principles and the Commission must assure that the rights of minorities are respected", added M. Verhofstadt ...

YABLOKO conducted an action against nuclear waste imports into Russia

Press Release, August 24, 2010.

YABLOKO’s activists conducted an action against nuclear waste imports from Germany into Russia by the German Embassy in Moscow today. YABLOKO has been consistently opposing the plans of the Russian government to import nuclear waste for procession and storage stating lack of transparency and control, corruption and terrorists’ threats.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin and Executive Secretary of YABLOKO’s Political Committee Galina Mikhalyova handed to representative of the Embassy Kirsch York YABLOKO’s address to the German government calling to abrogate the decision of exporting German nuclear waste into Russia...

SEE ALSO:

DIE WELT: 25.08.10 Proteste gegen Atommülltransport vor deutscher Botschaft in Moskau. Von Manfred Quiring

Rights activists complain about probe into colleague's murder in Chechnya

Interfax, August 23, 2010.

Moscow, 23 August: According to human rights campaigners, the murder of Natalya Estimirova, an activist of Memorial (human rights centre), is not being investigated.

"The investigation is not moving. It has stagnated," Svetlana Gannushkina, head of the Citizens' Assistance committee and a member of the council of the Memorial human rights centre, told Interfax on Monday (23 August)...

YABLOKO’s MP of the Tula City Duma faces three years of imprisonment for his criticism of the Governor

Press Release, August 17, 2010.

Criminal proceedings on a libel case (Ed. In Russia persecutions on a libel case may be launched both in the civil and the criminal proceedings) were launched against YABLOKO’s deputy of the Tula City Duma Vladimir Timakov for his alleged libel against Governor of the Tula Region Vyachslav Dudka. Timakov faces up to three years of imprisonment in accordance with Article 129 of the Criminal Code.

Vladimir Timakov was the only politician in the region who dared to criticize the Governor. According to Timakov, mechanisms of civil and political control over the executive branch have been completely dismantled in the region for the past five years, which facilitates corruption. Timakov holds the Governor responsible for record high corruption in the region...

Deputy Prime Minister Clegg says he’s proud of coalition's start

LI News Issue 196, August 19, 2010

On 18 August, in a speech to mark the milestone date of the first 100 days of the coalition government in office, UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, leader of LI full Member Liberal Democrats, declared himself 'really proud' of the government's achievements as he insisted that the coalition was committed to long-term decision-making “that will promote a better future, a more prosperous economy and a fairer society.” Mr. Clegg further hailed progress on the economy, civil liberties, political reform and changing the shape of public services by saying that the government was 'about much more than cuts' as he set out his vision for a fairer society. 'I am really proud of the achievements so far, from civil liberties, to political reform, to steps to reshaping our public services. And of course, our first budget, which set out our plans to repair the public finances...Our critics characterise us as being solely defined by our public spending cuts. So let me be clear: tackling the deficit is our immediate priority, but is it not our be-all and end-all. This Government is about much more than cuts” Clegg continued...

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The Electoral Commission of the Chelyabinsk Region validated YABLOKO's list of candidates for regional election

Press Release, August 17, 2010.

On August 17 the Electoral Commission of the Chelyabinsk Region validated YABLOKO's list of candidates for elections to the regional Legislative Assembly. YABLOKO will have to collect 15,000 to confirm its rights to participate in the October elections. YABLOKO’s list in the part of regional elections is topped by two renowned women: Natalya Mitronova, Chair of the Southern Urals Movement For Nuclear Safety and Fatima Kobzhasarova, Chair of the Chelyabisnk City Women’s Movement Fatima...

Court’s sentence to Sergei Makhnatkin is unjust

Statement by YABLOKO's Chairman, August 16, 2010.

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO considers Sergei Makhnatkin (Ed. A passer-by arrested during breaking of a peaceful protest action in the centre of Moscow on December 31, 2010, who tried to protect a woman from violence by the police and sentenced to two years of imprisonment under a pretext of using violence against police) unfairly and unjustly convicted.

Police officers have been systematically demonstrating their extremely low qualification in dealing with unauthorized peaceful public actions, their inability to solve tasks without violence bordering on cruelty against women, elderly citizens and passers-by...

YABLOKO launches election campaign in the Sebezhsky District of the Pskov Region

Press Release, August 16, 2010.

..."In this campaign I am protecting my team mates. This is a principled position, and we had enough grounds for adopting of such a decision. The YABLOKO party guarantees to all the members of the team, candidates in elections in the Sebezhsky District its political and legal protection. If needed all the forces of the party, including applications to regional and federal law enforcement bodies will be involved for such a defence,” Schlosberg said. He also added that pressure on elections commissions is inadmissible and unlawful, and Russian law envisages criminal persecution for such actions"...

Sergei Mitrokhin demands from Public Prosecutor to file a criminal case against head of the company felling trees in Khimki Forest

Press Release, August 16, 2010.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin demanded from Public Prosecutor to file a criminal case against Alexander Semchenko, head of the Teplotekhnik company felling trees in Khimki Forest. In his interview to Komsomolskaya Pravda paper Semchenko told that he had organised an attack of football fans on the defenders of the forest.

Semchenko also admitted that he had employed a group of persons for provocations against ecologists and other citizens...

The Social Liberalism of D66

By Marietje Schaake. Special for YABLOKO's web-site, August 14, 2010.

Yabloko's noble fight for freedom and democracy is something the Dutch party D66 can strongly relate to. Although the point of departure was different when our party was founded in 1966, democracy is always a work in progress and D66 has always been committed to holding Dutch democracy to the highest possible standard.
In the 1960s, Dutch politics were heavily dominated by the four 'pillars' that made up our society at the time: the socialist labourers, the Catholics, the Protestants and the liberal 'bourgeoisie'. The Dutch people were blindly loyal to the political parties at the top of their pillars, which resulted in a stale political landscape where all the real decisions were made by party elites negotiating amongst each other...

Radiological situation in Russia should be taken under control

Statement by YABLOKO's Chairman, August 13, 2010.

The YABLOKO Party has repeatedly drawn attention to the unacceptable negligence by the Russian authorities to ensuring of environmental safety of the population. Today we once again are drawing the attention of the authorities and the citizens to the danger of possible additional radiation exposure caused by the pyrogenic spread of radionuclides. Forest fires in Russia have already reached the Bryansk forests contaminated by Chernobyl’s fallout, and the forests around the city of Ozersk in the Chelyabinsk region polluted by the plutonium productions...

In Russia, fires - and politicians - are bringing down forests
By William J. Dobson.
Washington Post, August 13, 2010.

The biggest story in Russia today is the battle to tame a national outbreak of wildfires. The flames have consumed nearly 2 million acres of forests, farms and villages in their path. More than 4,000 people have lost their homes. A dense blanket of smoke and pollution has settled over Moscow; hundreds are pouring into hospitals because of illnesses triggered by the suffocating smog.

Russian media are focusing on government efforts to extinguish the fires, showcasing President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's promises to hold local officials accountable for not preventing the devastation. What the media are not reporting is the Kremlin's insistence, even as these fires rage, that a centuries-old oak forest on the outskirts of Moscow be cut down.

If you know about the destruction of Khimki Forest, it is only because you have heard the voice of Yevgenia Chirikova, the 33-year-old mother of two who unexpectedly has become one of Russia's fiercest environmental activists...

The original

Chris Huhne criticizes Labour’s economic mismanagement

LI News Issue 196, August 13, 2010

In a speech on Wednesday, British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne, of LI Full Member the Liberal Democrats, lashed out at the Labour party for leaving the United Kingdom in a financial state close to bankruptcy. The speech came in an effort to justify the coalition government's spending cuts in order to overcome the United Kingdom's biggest budget deficit in peacetime history. Mr. Huhne said: “In just two financial years up to the election, public spending rose by 10 percent in real terms. [..] The truth is Gordon Brown tried to buy the election. Labour's big spender went on a hell of a bender. It was goodbye prudence and hello hangover”...

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15,000 prisoners can burn alive

Press Release, August 9, 2010.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin demands from Minister of Extraordinary Situations Sergei Shoigu and President of the Republic of Mordovia Nikolai Merkushkin to adopt urgent measures for evacuation of the prisoners from the Potma prison camp encircled by forest fires. At present Mitrokhin is preparing an application to the Public Prosecutor demanding to conduct an audit on liquidation of the Potma-Barashyevo railroad which connected over 20 camps, and basing on the results of the audit to file a criminal case against the heads of the Federal Service for Execution of Punishment. Due to dismantling of the railroad 15,000 prisoners can die in fires...

Web-site providing information on fires in the Nizhni Novgorod Region killed before Governor’s inauguration

Press Release, August 8, 2010.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin called Governor of the Nizhni Novgorod Region Vlary Shantsev to take urgent measures for restoration of the regional web-site The Virtual Wyksa www.wyksa.ru which had been the only source of information for the population on terrible fires in the Wyksunsky District of the region. From August 5 on the threashold of Shantsev’s inauguration the web-site had been confronting continuous DDoS-attack, and, consequently, ceased to function. “Such ‘killing’ of the web-site helping to eliminate fires means killing of people,” runs Mitrokhin’s letter to the Governor. According to Mitrokhin, if Governor’s facilitation in restoring of the web-site, will mean not only a very step in fighting the fires, but will also clear the Administration off the suspicions in involvement in the hackers’ attack...

Women top YABLOKO’s election list in the Chelyabinsk region

Press Release, August 7, 2010.

Women topped YABLOKO’s list of candidates for elections to the Legislative Assembly of the Chelyabinsk region scheduled on October 10. Such a decision was adopted by the regional conference of the party which took place on August 7...The conference also nominated Oleg Mukharlamov YABLOKO’s candidate to the post of the head of Bredinskly District of the Chelyabinsk Region...

Weapons of mass destruction have no place on the planet!

Statement by the YABLOKO party, August 6, 2010.

The memory of the dozens of thousands people killed by the nuclear tornado in those August days of 1945 calls for our increased efforts so that to achieve as soon as possible complete prohibition of all forms of weapons of mass destruction.

The end of the Cold War and fabulous material and human resources wasted by the mankind for a dangerous confrontation set a new challenge for the world: finding other methods and techniques for provision of national security that would not involve elimination of people.

In the 21st century the global security, including national security systems of the states of the globe, represents above all the need to address common human and global problems of climate change, chemical and biological pollution and other negative effects of modern civilisation...

YABLOKO leader convicted for involvement in demonstration

LI News Issue 195, August 6, 2010

...The arrest and trial adds another incident to the long list of controversial Russian government obstruction of the YABLOKO party's political activities. “Spending this day in Khimki I saw the functioning of the judicial-police-prosecution mafia which have kept the whole district in their tentacles”, Mitrokhin said. “The police are lying, but the courts believe these lies and public prosecutors cover all these police actions,” he added referring to the court case.

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Yevgenia Chirikova, her aid and YABLOKO’s activist detained and taken to court

Press Release, August 5, 2010.

Leader of the Movement in Protection of the Khimki Forest Yevgenia Chirikova, her aid Yaroslav Nikienko and YABLOKO’s activist and defender of Chirikova Artur Grokhovsky have been just detained when leaving the Khimki police department where Chirikova has been interrogated and are being taken to court. According to Grokhovsky, the court of the first instance will hear the case of disobeying the police when police was dispersing the activists from ecologists’ camp on July 28. Then police accused ecologists of burning fires. The detained were escorted to the local police department where they were detained for nine hours. The following day only ecologist Elena Maksimova was summoned to court...

According to the latest information Chirikova has been found guilty of organization of an unsanctioned action in the Khimki Forest on July 28 and sentenced to a fine of RUR 1,500... Chirikiva’s aid Yaroslav Nikitenko is now waiting for the hearing of his case. He is also accused of organisation of an unsanctioned action and disobeying the police.

Sergei Mitrokhin to President Medvedev: felling of forest in Khimki is fire hazardous

Press Release, August 5, 2010.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin urged Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to establish a moratorium on the felling of forests in the Khimki area "at least until the end of fires and lifting of the of the emergency situation regime in the Moscow region." The photographs attached to the letter show the signs of fire-hazardous activities in the work of woodcutters and securities protecting them, in particular, a fire they had made in their camp and cans with fuel for chainsaws simply scattered throughout the clearance.

"In spite of the order by the Moscow Region Governor Boris Gromov on limiting access of citizens to forests in the Moscow region, dozens of voluntary assistants to the Teplotekhnik company are supporting felling of the forest and their work can also contribute to fire development,” runs the statement...

YABLOKO conducted a picket in support of Yevgenia Chirikova

Press Release, August 4, 2010.

YABLOKO’s activists Olga Ushakova and Andrei Lazaryev conducted picketing of the Interior Affairs Department of the Moscow Region where the police took today Yevgenia Chirikova for interrogation. YABLOKO’s activists demanded to release the ecologist.

After the end of a press-conference in the Independent Press Centre the police virtually kidnapped Chirikova on the eyes of journalists. Without giving any explanations three policemen from the OMON division (the riot police) twisting her arms took Chirikova to their car (strange, but the car number was ordinary, not one of the special numbers belonging to police) while journalists and ecologists were pushed off with police chains...


YABLOKO’s picket: “Heads of the Khimki police to trial!”

Press Release, August 3, 2010.

...“We have such a situation in Khimki that the smallest gathering of people is prohibited and dispersed, while the efficiency of the police work from the point of view of the law and the citizens has been falling towards zero,” YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin told in his speech at the picket. According to Mitrokhin, an attack against journalist Mikhail Beketov is still uninvestigated (editor-in-chief of and independent Khimki Pravda paper defending the Khimki Forest who was beaten virtually to death and left to die. To-date Beketov is handicapped), and none of the policemen dared to opposed the attack of hooligans against the Khimki administration. “The Khimki police is not simply exercising arbitrary rule, it is even dangerous for the society,” Mitrokhin added...

“Now we have a so-called “mini-Stalinism” in Khimki: they can detain a person on the street under faked pretexts and get him imprisoned. We had this in our history only in Stalin’s period,” the ecologist said. She also said that the ecologists were not protesting against construction of a highway in general, “We only want the highway to change its route and go past the forest”. This is especially important, she added, when we have such extremely hot summer and many forests are on fire. “We should preserve every tree,” Chirikiva said...


Court ruled out Sergei Mitrokhin guilty of disobeying police orders. YABLOKO’s protest action

Press Release, August 3, 2010.

Yesterday court ruled out that Sergei Mitrokhin was guilty of disobeying police orders and organization of unsanctioned rally in defence of the Khimki Forest and sentenced to a fine RUR 500. The court’s decision stated that Sergei Mitrokhin organized an unsanctioned rally. When a policeman, according to the court’s statement, came up to him, gave his name and politely asked to leave the site of action, Mitrokhin refused to do this disobeying the police.The court included into the case a video material showing only policemen taking Mitrokhin into the police car. Moreover the video recording had been done from a long distance...

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...At this moment YABLOKO is picketing by the Criminal Police Department of the Moscow Region protesting against arbitrary rule of the Khimki police. The activists are holding slogans “Heads of the Khimki police to trial!”, “Put an end to arbitrary rule by the Khimki police!”...


Young liberals from all over the world to gather in St.Petersburg

Press Release, August 3, 2010.

An Executive Committee meeting and an Extraordinary meeting of the General Assembly of International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) will take place in St.Petersburg on August 6-8. Representatives from over 40 countries will come to St.Petersburg.

The meeting will be opened by Bart Woord, IFLRY President, Nikolai Rybakov, deputy head of St.Petersburg YABLOKO’s branch and Alexander Gudimov, Chair of St.Petersburg Youth YABLOKO. The participants will discuss development of democracy and liberalism.

Several panels will be devoted to Russia...


Mitrokhin is facing 15 days of arrest. Russia’s Ombudsman notified of detentions in Khimki

Press Release, August 2, 2010.

...“The second charge was fabricated right after I demanded to release me, as the first charge had already been announced,” Mitrokhin said. He also noted that the second charge may be needed so that to convoy him to court.

It should be also noted that the six activists with the same charges and detained together with Mitrokhin have been still kept in the police department for over three hours already in violation of the law.


Riot police breaks the rally of the defenders of the Khimki Forest, YABLOKO’s leader detained

Press Release, August 2, 2010.

...Ten minutes after the meeting of the ecologists began the police came to the site and began detaining all the men present at the meeting. YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin was one of the first detainees. Wringing his hands the policemen forced him to come into their car making him sit on the floor, virtually in the luggage compartment...

Take and Divide.
Interview with Igor Artemyev, head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service. Izvestia, July 30, 2010

...Artemyev: It is not our desire to bankrupt companies, but punishment for violation of antimonopoly laws must be unavoidable. Therefore, we have fined, are fining, and will continue fining. The TNK-BP case became a precedent. And, we are planning to take advantage of the Supreme Arbitration Court's decision which is favourable for us and apply it to other companies...

Police begins persecutions against the defenders of the Khimki Forest

Press Release, July 30, 2010.

Police has begun persecution of the activists from the "In defense of the Khimki Forest" movement and Euvgenia Chirikova, the movement’s leader. According to the defenders of the forest, yesterday they found out that they were under surveillance, police officers came to their homes without informing their relatives of the purpose of the visit. Also the activists did not get any official notifications from the police. "Yesterday, shortly after we came out of the court of the Khimki town, we found our that we were under surveillance. It a stout man in a white suit. However, we managed to escape him: luckily we quickly got into a taxi and headed to Moscow", Yaroslav Nikitenko, Aid of Euvgenia Chirikova said...

Sergei Mitrokhin applied to Prime Minister Putin and Public Prosecutor General Chaika in view of unlawful cutting of the Khimki Forest

Press Release, July 30, 2010.

Today on July 30, YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin applied to Prime Minister Putin and Public Prosecutor General Chaika in view of unlawful cutting of the Khimki Forest.

According to the federal law "On Highways”, "cutting of the woods is only possible after obtaining a permission for construction of a highway. The Forestry Code requires that every user of the forests should obtain a land declaration. The normative acts of the town of Khimki require obtaining of a special cutting ticket, which should be supplied with a dendroplan and a tally sheet. According to our data, all of these documents are missing, thus cutting of the woods is unlawful,” runs Mitrokhin’s letter to Public Prosecutor General...

Sergei Mitrokhin stopped cutting of the trees in the Khimki Forest

Press Release, July 30, 2010.

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YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin and party activists once again managed to stop cutting of the woods in the Khimki Forest.

Mitrokhin told the workers about the order of Public Prosecutor to stop all the works. After this the driver of a harvester stopped his work and was going to leave the site. However, one of the guards from the private security company tried to stop him, however, the driver refused to resume work. At the same time the other guards were calling their chiefs...

The Phobos company continues eliminating the Khimki Forest despite Public Prosecutor’s ban

Press Release, July 30, 2010.

Despite Public Prosecutor’s ban the workers of the Phobos company constructing the Moscow-St.Petersburg highway continue cutting of the Khimki forest. Vyacheslav Sorokin, whose house is located in 200 meters from the Khimki Forest, informed YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin of it today...

Ecologists and civil activists detained in the Khimki Forest are facing 15 days of arrest

Press Release, July 29, 2010.

At present YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin is in Public Prosecutor’s office in Khimki filing an application of unlawful actions by the police.

The police confiscated mobile phones of nine detained ecologists and journalists, thus depriving them of an opportunity to get in touch with lawyers and get a legal consultation.

The police officer on duty told Mitrokhin that confiscation of mobile phones was lawful, and the activists are kept in the wards. The police issued protocols of administrative violation (disobeying the police orders) against them, which can involve such punishment as 15 days of arrest. The leader of the defenders of the Khimki Forest Yevgenia Chirikova (who is one of the nine detained ecologists) managed to tell Mitrokhin that the policemen referred to an order of the Moscow Region Governor Boris Gromov who “had prohibited any persons to appear in the Forest”...

Police breaks into ecologists’ camp

Press Release, July 28, 2010.

At night of July 28 special riot police (OMON) broke into the camp of the Khimki Forest defenders made close to the cutting site. The police detained 16 persons, including the leader of the ecologist Yevgeniya Chirikova and five journalists.

However, YABLOKO and ecologists continue defending the Khimki Forest. YABLOKO’s experts state that the highway Moscow – St.Petersburg can well take one of the alternative routs without going through the Khimki Forest which is acting as the “lungs” of the region. Cutting of the woods has been held without any permits. Representatives of the construction company did not come to the scheduled meeting with the ecologists and residents of Khimki where they had promised to show “all the due permits”.

Public hearings on the Khimki Forest postponed

Press Release, July 28, 2010.

The meeting of the residents of the Khimki city, the Moscow regions, and Sergei Mitrokhin with representatives of OOO Teplotekhnik conducting cutting of the woods in the Khimki Forest is postponed for an undetermined period. At the agreed time (June 28, 5 p.m.) the residents of the city and YABLOKO’s leader and party activists came to the meeting. However, the doors were closed and a sheet of paper notifying that the meeting is “postponed” was pinned on the doors. The notification gave no time or date of the new meeting.

Sergei Mitrokhin and the residents of the Presnya district, Moscow, will fill up the pit of an unlawful construction site

Press Release, July 28, 2010.

...In early May 2010, head of the Moscow construction complex Vladimir Resin said that the contract with the developer - the Phobos company – was dissolved. The local authority also issued an order to stop the works. However, these orders did not stop the Phobos construction company. The residents of the neighbouring houses are afraid that their houses may give cracks and, consequently be ruined due to large-scale construction works in the old district of the city. After the workers were ousted by police the residents decided to fill in the excavated pit with earth. On Thursday, July 29, Sergei Mitrokhin will meet with the residents of the district and also participate in filling in the pit with earth...

YABLOKO to participate in public hearings on the Khimki Forest

Press Release, July 28, 2010.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin and party activists will participate in the meeting of the residents of the Khimki district with representatives of a contracting company eliminating the Khimki Forest. The hearings will take place at 5 p.m. in the Dom Kulturi Rodina (address: Khimki, Leninsky prospect 2, by the Khimki railway station in the Leo Tolstoy Park).

Please note that tonight despite an announced moratorium on construction works and cutting of the woods, OAO Teplotekhnik continued cutting of the trees. According to the witnesses the work was conducted under spotlights. It is expected that after public hearings the participants of the meeting will go to the place of cuttings so that to stop unlawful works.

MORE: The Battle for Khimki Forest. By Yevgenia Chirikova

Bring justice to Russian human rights defenders

Liberal International Human Rights Newsletter, July 27, 2010.

One year after the murder of Russian human rights activist Natalia Estemirova, her killers have yet to be brought to justice due to an investigation frought impartiality. “This negligent attitude on behalf of the authorities enhances political terror in the country. Such reprisals are targeted at intimidation of all the dissenting with the present political course at the Northern Caucasus, violation of human rights, curbing of civil liberties and suppression of the freedom of speech,” said Dr Grigory A. Yavlinsky, founder of the YABLOKO party (LI full member), prize-winner of the Prize for Freedom in 2004.

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The YABLOKO party starts litigation disputing lawfulness of the General Plan for Moscow Development until 2025

Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 27, 2010.

The Moscow City Court appointed hearings of the YABLOKO party law suit disputing lawfulness of the General Plan of Moscow Development until 2025 on August 9. The trial will be open for public. "I have filed this lawsuit personally as a citizen, whose rights are violated by the law. If we translate this in short from the legal language, [the Plan] affects the following rights: driving around the city without traffic jams, breathing clean air, buying housing at affordable prices and walking around historical places of the city. All these rights were violated by the developers of the law to fill Moscow with office and trade premises,” Sergei Mitrokhin, leader of the YABLOKO party, said yesterday. Mitrokhin also explained, "This trend violates my right to a healthy environment, not only a natural, but also architectural and technological environment”...

Unlawful works in the place of destructed architectural heritage stopped

Press Release, July 26, 2010.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin stopped construction works in the place of destructed architectural heritage in Tishinsky lane, Moscow. Despite a ban of the Moscow regulator the builders began excavation works. After arrival of Sergei Mitrokhin the workers disappeared.

The building at Bolshoi Tishinsky 30/44 building 1, was built in the early 20th century by architect Nirnzeye and was almost completely destroyed in 2008. Under a pretext of renovation the construction company left only a corner wall of the building. The residents of the area jointly with the YABLOKO party have been fighting against construction of a new building with a multi-level underground garage on the site of the destructed monument of architecture for two years. In early May 2010, head of the Moscow construction complex Vladimir Resin said that the contract with the developer - the Phobos company – was dissolved...

YABLOKO's activist detained in the Red Square

Press Release, July 26, 2010.

Today on July 26, a one-person picketing under the slogan “Medvedev, do not be a FSB puppet!” was conducted at the Red Square. YABLOKO’s Artur Grokhovsky was holding a placard picturing the “KGB men” - Felix Dzerzhinsky, Lavrenty Beria and Vladimir Putin – and a photograph of President Dmitry Medvedev tied to their fingers.

YABLOKO called the President not to sign the law broadening of the proxies of secret services. The police detained the activist who was picketing at the Red Square, broke the placard picturing the “KGB men” and their “puppet” President Medvedev. Also, allegedly a FSB (Federal Security Service) officer tried to wipe out all the records from the journalists’ cameras and recorders and also tried to break a camera...

A flash game “Medvedev, do not be a puppet!”

July 26, 2010.

The 123 Agreement will turn Russia into the world burial of nuclear waste

Statement by the YABLOKO party, July 24, 2010.

The YABLOKO party has always opposed imports of nuclear waste into Russia. It was the only parliamentary party which in 2000 jointly voted against introduction of changes into the law allowing for imports of radioactive waste into Russia. Even at that time we were saying “we should not turn Russia into an international radioactive waste dump even for much money!” However, such changes in the law were made under the pressure from the Russian Atomic Agency (Rosatom), despite of the fact that 90 per cent of Russian citizens are against imports of radioactive waste into Russia.

The 123 Agreement on cooperation with Russia in the nuclear field has been considered by US Congress at present. In case it is approved, Russia will be able to import US radioactive waste from Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and many other countries, under a formal pretext of recycling and virtually for its burial.

Submitting the bill into Congress US President said, “implementation of this agreement does not bear any risks for our security…” Such care of US President of his country security inspires respect, while the Russian authorities’ care of the security of their country arises much doubt and concern...

Off with your hands from the defenders of the Khimki Forest!

Statement by the YABLOKO party, July 23, 2010.

...The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO calls the human rights community and democratic politicians to defend the constitutional rights of the Khimki activists and render them all possible assistance. This is the case, when Russia’s civil society has virtually shown itself and dared to resist the big money and the state machinery. Its support in this confrontation is far more important than hundreds of rallies in defense of democracy in general.

We also fully support the requirements of the defenders of the Khimki Forest. Destruction of a unique natural complex providing fresh air to the capital of Russia will bring to nothing all the talks about modernization and demonstrate to Russian citizens and the entire world the inability of the Russian state to modernise...

Sergei Mitrokhin: President should not become a secret services’ puppet

Press Release, July 23, 2010.

Sergei Mitrokhin, leader of the YABLOKO party, called Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev not to sign the law on broadening of the proxies of the FSB (Federal Security Service) adopted in three readings by the State Duma (the lower chamber of the Russian parliament) and approved by the Federation Council (the upper chamber).

“President’s reputation is at stake here, Sergei Mitrokhin said. – This is the moment of truth for the President: either he really targets at making Russia a modern law-governed state or all his speeches about modernization is a part of a cover operation developed within the Federal Security Bureau”...

An action against broadening of proxies of secret services took part by St.Petersburg Federal Security Service building

Press Release, July 22, 2010.

An unsanctioned action against broadening of proxies of secret services was held by Youth YABLOKO activists in St.Petsersburg. The action was held in front of the Big House (the Federal Security Service building in St.Petersburg, Liteyniy 4).

Two young activists were dressed as prisoners with inscriptions “A Victim of the Regime” on their clothes. Three other activists acting as KGB men shot the victims with red paint by the entrance to the FSB building. “We have shown the pinnacle of this amendment to the FSB law when ordinary people will become potential prisoners as it was in 1937 [under Stalin],” Alexander Gudimov, leader of St.Petersburg Youth YABLOKO said. “Then [in 1937] they had special proxies, however, they used these against people and not against criminals,” he added...

Action in memory of Natalya Estemirova took place in Ekaterinburg

hro.org, July 21, 2010.

A picket organized by the regional Memorial branch in memory of human rights activist Memorial’s Natalya Estemirova kidnapped in Grozny, Chechnya, and killed in Ingushetia on July 15, 2009, took place in Ekaterinburg.

Maxim Petlin, leader of Sverdlovsk YABLOKO, Alexander Kalkh, Chair of the Perm Memorial branch, Tatyana Merzlyakova, Ombudsman in the Sverdlovsk region, activists of the Movement Against Violence (Glec Edelyev) and Interregional Centre for Human Rights (Vladimir Shaklein) participated in the picketing. The picket ended by a demonstration along the main street of the city and demonstration of a documentary “Aldy: Without Limitations Period” (a joint production by Memorial and YABLOKO) devoted to killings of civilians on February 5, 2000, the Noviye Aldy village in Chechnya. The film basis on the materials obtained by Natasha Estemirova with a risk to her life...

Liberal conference focuses on democratisation of Cuba

LI News Issue 193, July 22, 2010

With high level participation of Liberal International, Convergencia Democratica de Catalunya (CDC) and the Swedish International Liberal Centre (SILC) organized a conference in Barcelona on “What else can be done for democracy in Cuba?” Attracting great media attention, the Conference was addressed by some of the recently released Cuban political prisoners exiled in Spain. In dramatic confessions, they described the horrible conditions under which they have lived in the Cuban prisons, as well as the daily misery that the Cuban people continue to live. Among the speakers were democracy and Human Rights activist, politicians, representatives of exiled media. LI Secretary General Emil Kirjas recalled the experiences from his last visit to Cuba: “for years LI has been in various terms supporting the pro-democracy movements both in Cuba and in exile”. Concluding the Conference, LI Deputy President Juli Minoves said that “This is a memorable moment for human rights. LI will continue to work on Cuba with new strategies, and will expand the outreach. These initiatives must and will -I am certain- gather all political internationals.”

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The policeman who had to deal with alleged “disobeying” by YABLOKO’s activist has given his evidence to court

Press Release, July 22, 2010.

A Moscow court of the first instance continues hearings on Artur Grokhovsky’s case. Grokhovsky is accused of “disobeying a lawful demand” of the police during the action against broadening of secret services proxies held by the State Duma on July 9. A policeman who detained “disobeying” Grokhovsky has given his evidence in court today...

The judge watched the video of detention of YABLOKO’s activist by the State Duma

Press Release, July 21, 2010.

On July 21 Judge Olga Borovkova during the hearings of Artur Grokhovsky’s case watched the video of detention of Artur Grokhovsky, Advisor to YABLOKO’s Chairman. Grokhovsky is accused of “disobeying a lawful demand” of the police during the action against broadening of secret services proxies held by the State Duma on July 9. Grokhovsky is facing admoinsitrative arrest up to 15 days...

One-person picketing against broadening of the competence of secret services conducted by the Federation Council

Press Release, July 19, 2010.

One-person picketing against broadening of the competence of secret services was conducted by the Federation Council (the upper chamber of the Russian parliament) as the latter had to examine the draft law today on July 19. Artur Grokhovsky, Advisor to YABLOKO’s Chairman, was holding a huge placard (1.5 x 1 meters) picturing Felix Dzerzhinsky, the head of the KGB, Lavrenty Beria, Stalin’s closest accomplice standing behind mass-scale reprisals and Vladimir Putin with an inscription “The KGB men are for it!”...

A mass-scale rally for protection of the environment took place in Tuapse

Press Release, July 19, 2010.

From 2 to 3 thousand people, according to different estimates, gathered for a rally in protection of environment in Tuapse (a city on the Black Sea) on July 18. The rally was organised by an initiative group headed by coordinator of the Environmental Watch in the North Caucasus and member of the YABLOKO party Andrei Rudomakha.

The participants of the rally demanded to conduct a referendum on construction of a terminal for the EuroChem chemical company in the Tuapse port, as well as stop oil extraction at the Black Sea shelf.

A broad-scale campaign launched by the local authorities and targeted at disruption of the rally was held on the threshold of the public action...

Action in memory of Natalya Estemirova took place in Nevsky Prospect, St.Petersburg

Press Release, July 16, 2010.

An action in memory of renowned human rights activist Natalya Estemirova kidnapped and murdered a year ago in took place in Nevsky Prospect, St.Petersburg, on July 16, 2010. Activists from the YABLOKO party, Memorial and The House of Peace and Non-Violence dressed in T-shirts with a photograph of Natalya marched along the main street of the city Nevsky prospect and distributed leaflets about the killed human rights activist among passers-by. The latter asked questions about Natalya and about the news of the investigation...

Ecologists block the driver who attacked the leader of the Movement in Protection of the Khimki Forest

Press Release, July 19, 2010.

The activists protecting the Khimki forest made a camp in the place of cutting of the woods and are now blocking a car of a stranger who attacked Eugenia Chirikova, the leader of the Movement in Protection of the Khimki Forest, and almost hit her with his car.
On July 16 this man drove to the camp in a silver KIA jeep (No B 104 YE 98). Coming out of the car the man began hitting Eugenia on the hands trying to make her drop her mobile phone. Then he jumped into his car and tried to knock her down with his car, Eugenia managed to escape only by a miracle...

In protection of the Khimki Forest and its defenders

Statement by the YABLOKO party, July 17, 2010.

...Environmental safety of several thousands of the residents of the Khimki area is swapped for profit, unraparable damage to the ecological system of the Moscow region. For the sake of profits the authorities are covering the criminals: the bandits who made handicapped Mikhail Bekotov, Editor-in-Chief of the Khimki Pravda paper courageously defending the Khimki Forest, have not been found.
Elections to the federal parliament will come soon. We are drawing the attention of the Muscovites and the residents of the Moscow region to the fact that the attack against the Khimki Forest is supported by the omnipresent [progovernmental] United Russia party and its leader Vladimir Putin. Thus, hey once again demonstrate that the commercial interests of the few are more important than care of the health and well-being of many...

Young YABLOKO activists detained for protesting against the secret services law by the parliament

Press Release, July 16, 2010.

Three activists of the Youth YABLOKO were detained by police by the State Duma (the Russian parliament) when attempting to conduct a protest action against introduction of amendments broadening the competence of secret services (FSB).

Today deputies of the State Duma are to consider the draft law in the final third reading. YABLOKO’s activists came to the State Duma disguised as prisoners with a placard, a scaling ladder and leaflets...

YABLOKO’s activists convicted for a one-person picket against the new law on secret services

Press Release, July 15, 2010.

Deputy Chairman of the Moscow branch of YABLOKO Galina Mikhalyova and young YABLOKO’s activist Igor Savyolov were found guilty of committing a misdemeanor and fined 500 rubles each. The cases of the other two activists - Maxim Kruglov and Arthur Grokhovsky - were postponed until July 23 as the policemen were late for the trial.

The decision states violation of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences (Violation of the set order in organsing or conducting a gathering, rally, demonstration, march or picketing”).

YABLOKO’s activist had to stand before court for holding a one-person picket by the State Duma on June 11 - when the draft law for broadening of the proxies of the secret service (FSB) was examined by the Duma in the first reading. Galina Mikhalyova stood by the walls of the State Duma with a placard while of other party activists waiting for their turn at a distance. The police detained all the activists of YABLOKO despite the fact that a one-person picketing was conducted only by Galina Mikhalyova.

"The example of this particular case demonstrates that our courts are biased and not impartial. The court’s decision was not guided by fraudulent administrative violation cases provided by police rather than by Russian laws," Mikhalyova said...

Tula City Duma deputy persecuted for his criticism of the Governor’s work

Statement by the Tula branch of YABLOKO, July 15, 2010.

The Tula regional branch of the YABLOKO party expresses its deep concern with criminal prosecution of deputy of the Tula City Duma from our party Vladimir TImakov [launched under a pretext of a libel case].

Timakov gave his assessment of the Governor’s work at his post.

Actually Timakov’s statements are based on his believes, and, in our view, there are no grounds for criminal prosecution in our opinion no. The fact that the Investigation Committee with the Public Prosecutor's Office in the Tula region three times refused [the Governor] in launching a criminal case for the lack of the elements of crime [in such criticism] is one more proof of this.

In our opinion, this constitutes a demonstrative political "bashing" of a dissenting oppositional politician and journalist so that to force him stop his activities and give up his believes...

The police finally returned impounded soft and hardware to the Baikal Ecological Wave

Press Release, July 15, 2010.

The YABLOKO congratulates the staff of the Baikal Ecological Wave who managed to prove that impounding of computers and software from their office was unlawful. The computers are returned, and the Irkutsk police brought their apologizes to the ecologists.

During the investigation it was confirmed (however, this was obvious from the beginning): the Baikal Ecological Weave used only licensed software...

Sergei Mitrokhin: President crossed out the course towards modernisation

Press Release, July 15, 2010.

“The President’s statement crosses out the course towards modernisation he has proclaimed. Amendments proposed to the law on the Federal Security Service demonstrate that instead of building a modern state in Russia the President has been restoring the most archaic institutions of the totalitarian past,” YABLOKO’s leader said.

According to Mitrokhin no one but corrupted bureaucracy which is afraid of the people and tries to maintain at any price its power and riches accumulated with the help of this power needs these amendments.

Today President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev said at a joint press-conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the draft law “has been developed on his order”. However, the draft law was submitted to the parliament by Chair of the Government Vladimir Putin...

The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service turns 20

July 14, 2010.

Dear friends,

Please receive our congratulations on the 20th anniversary of your work in the federal Anti-Monopoly Service!

Throughout the years of its functioning, especially led by a remarkable economist and a politician of principle and our friend, Igor Artemyev, the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has become playing a significant role in the economic and political life of the country, fight against corruption and monopolies...

European Parliament members meet with YABLOKO’s leaders

Press Release, July 26, 2010.

On June 26 YABLOKO held a meeting with the delegation of the European Liberals, Democrats and Reformers party (ELDR) – Mrs. Annemie Neyts, ELDR President, Mrs.Kristiina Ojuland, MEP, Mr. Michael Jensen, member of Danish parliament and Mr.Robert Plummer, ELDR Political Advisor.

Opening the meeting YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin proposed to discuss the prospects of further cooperation between ELDR and ELDR full member the YABLOKO party.

Member of YABLOKO’s Political Committee Grigory Yavlinsky said that the EU has not yet developed a single strategy for cooperation with Russia, therefore development of such a strategy can become a task of ELDR and its faction in the European Parliament. And YABLOKO can help in development of such a strategy. "The absence of a well-developed European strategy as regards integration with Russia is one of the key obstacles in development of relations between Russia and Europe. YABLOKO’s proposals and some provisions of our party programme could form the basis for such a strategy," Yavlinsky said.

YABLOKO’s leaders also dwelled upon some aspects of such a strategy. Thus, Sergei Mitrokhin proposed to European liberals to more actively support YABLOKO’s initiative on abolishing visas between the EU and Russia. He called the visa regime “a rudiment of the Iron Curtain preventing assimilation of the European standards by the Russian citizens”...

Judge sends the cases of young YABLOKO activists to additional investigation

Press Release, July 14, 2010.

Judge Olga Borovkova sent the cases of three activists of the Youth branch of YABLOKO (Kirill Goncharov, Vladislav Pankov and Igor Savyelov), who had chained themselves on July 9 with handcuffs to the fence of the State Duma in protest against broadening of proxies of the Russian secret service (FSB). The judge detected numerous violations in issuing the protocols. Motivated decisions will be handed to Stanislav Gorlov who defends the activists tomorrow. Hearing of the case of the fourth activist Veronica Belozerskikh has not yet been scheduled yet...

Young YABLOKO activists are facing 15 days of arrest

Press Release, July 9, 2010.

The detained activists of the Youth YABLOKO and Artur Grokhovsky, Advisor to Sergei Mitrokhin, are facing 15 days of arrest in accordance with Article 19.3 of the Administrative Violation Code “Non-obeying to the lawful police order”.

Protocols on administrative violations by the activists were made in the Tverkoye police station, Moscow. “I access this as an act of moral pressure,” Artur Grokhovsky said over the phone.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin told that this constituted an attempt of intimidation of the activists as they had dared to oppose Vladimir Putin’s initiative...”

Activists of the Youth YABLOKO enchained themselves with handcuffs by the Russian parliament protesting against the new security service law

Press Release, July 9, 2010.

Four activists of the Youth YABLOKO were detained by police after they enchained themselves with handcuffs by the State Duma (the Russian parliament) protesting against the new security service (FSB, the former KGB) law. Artur Grokhovsky, Advisor to party Chair Sergei Mitrokhin, was also detained.
“YABLOKO has been conducting this action protesting against adoption of the draft law broadening the proxies of the FSB. Today deputies of the State Duma has to examine the draft law in the second reading. Artur Grokhovsky stood by the entrance to the parliament building with a placard picturing Byeria (Stalin’s main accomplice), Dzerzhinsky and Putin with an inscription “Amendments to the FSB law – the KGB men are for it!” with the signatures YABLOKO had collected against this law...

Investigation of Yuri Schekochikhin’s death should go on

Statement by the YABLOKO party. July 3, 2010.

July 3 marks seven years since the death of an outstanding journalist and fighter against corruption Yuri Schekochikhin.

On this day the Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO considers it necessary to remind to Russia’s leadership that the circumstances of the death of Yuri Schekochikhin have not been determined.

The decision on termination of the investigation adopted by the Investigation Committee of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in 2009 demonstrates inability or lack of desire of the present Russian state to conduct a full-fledged investigation...

“Clegg announces welcome political reforms – Hughes”

LI News Issue 191, July 8, 2010

With the decision made by the Liberal Democrat-Conservative government in the UK to hold a referendum on adopting “Alternative Vote” , the UK moves one step closer to adopting a form of proportional representation. According to recently elected Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems, Simon Hughes MP: ““The coalition Government has decided in one move to give all voters a much greater say in who is chosen to represent them and to give Parliament a much greater say in the business of Government…With an easier and more up to date electoral register in the future, the whole of Britain will have a much more representative democracy. We will also end the scandal where votes have been of unequal value and in many places of no value at all — and where many people have scandalously not even been allowed to vote.” The Liberal Democrats currently serve as a coalition partner in the United Kingdom, with leader Nick Clegg serving as Deputy Prime Minister. Recently he met with leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Michael Ignatieff .

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YABLOKO wins a case in the Constitutional Court

Press Release, June 22, 2010.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin expressed his satisfaction with the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the complaint from YABLOKO’s member Andrei Malitsky.

The Constitutional Court ruled out that some provisions on the Russian Federaiton law “On the Basic Guarantees of Franchise and the Right to Referendum” connected with a ban for the citizens residing in a foreign state to be members of electoral commissions. Being a Russian citizen Malitsky obtained in 2009 a residence permit in Lithuania. Due to this fact he was expelled from a territorial electoral commission in Moscow where he represented YABLOKO’s interests...

YABLOKO conducted the “1,418 Candles in Memory of the War” action in the Russian cities

Press Release, June 22, 2010.

YABLOKO’s activists conducted memory actions in different Russian cities on the night from June 21 to June 22, on the day of the 69th anniversary of the beginning o the Great Patriotic War (Ed. The term used in Russia and the CIS countries to describe the period of 1941-1945 of the Second World War, when Hilter invaded the USSR).

In Moscow the activists and advocates of YABLOKO lit 1,418 candles symbolizing the number of the days of war by the monument to the Muscovites-defenders of Moscow...

YABLOKO’s leaders - Sergei Mitrokhin, party Chairman, Grigory Yavlinsky, member of YABLOKO’s Political Committee and the founder of the party and Eugeni Bunimovich, Moscow Ombudsman for Children’s Rights laid flowers to the monument.

In St.Petersburg 1,418 candles were lit by the so-called Blockade Ice-Hole where the citizens took water from during the city blockade at the Fontanka embankment.

Representatives of the Pskov regional branch of YABLOKO headed by their Chair and member of YABLOKO Bureau Lev Shlosberg paid tribute to the victims of the Second World War at the Victory square by the Eternal Flame...

In the centre of Penza activists of the Youth YABLOKO lit candles by the Victory Monument.

Memory of the victims of the war is a part of personal genetic memory

Press Release, June 21, 2010.

On June 22 at 4 a.m. representatives of the Pskov regional branch of YABLOKO headed by their Chair Lev Shlosberg will pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the Second World War at the Victory square by Eternal Flame. The activists will lay flowers to the Grave of the Unknown Soldier and light candles.

“Participation in this memorial action is a civil and not a party action,” Lev Shlosberg said. “This is an integral part of a personal genetic memory of a person, as well as genetic memory of the nation.” Party symbols will not be used in the action.

Grigory Yavlinsky to visit Kirov on June 24

Press Release, June 20, 2010.

Renown Russian politician and economist, one of the founders of the YABLOKO party and member of YABLOKO’s Political Committee Dr.Grigory Yavlinsky will visit Kirov on June 24.

The first event in his programme will be a meeting with the public. Then Grigory Yavlinsky will deliver a lecture “Modernisation of Russia’s Economic and Political System” in the Vyatka State University. A meeting of Grigory Yavlinsky and Governor of the Kirov Region Nikita Belykh will take place at 2 p.m. A press-conference will be organised after the meeting. The closing event of the visit will be Grigory Yavlinsky’s meeting with the activists of the Kirov branch of the YABLOKO party...

Ombudsman against the interior and security forces

By Andrei Kolesnikov, Forbes Russia, June 18, 2010.

Mr. Lukin as Ombudsman is an experiment: a democrat of 1960s (Ed. The famous period of liberalisation in the Soviet Union) in the state structure of the Putin’s period. Will he survive or not? Will he bend or not? Will he merge with the surroundings or not? He survived, did not bend and did not merge...

But he unexpectedly presented an example of an honest politician in dishonest circumstances. There even emerged such an unconventional concept in politics as a conscience. And this is an awesome power. They all are afraid of that old honest man.

Oppositional journalist’s house burnt in the Saratov region

Press Release, June 17, 2010.

The house of Editor-in-Chief of the Ogni Povolzhiya (Lights of the Volga) newspaper and member of the Regional Council of the Saratov branch of YABLOKO Salimzhan Gaisin was burned on the night of June 15. His daughter and son in law and their two children managed to get out of the burning house. A newly built house and an adjacent old building completely burt out. YABLOKO expresses support of the colleague and considers this accident as obviously of criminal nature.

“We connect this not only with the journalistic activity, but also with a pro-active attitude and human rights activities by Salimzhan Gaisin, who conducted numerous anti-corruption investigations, revealed facts of abuse of power by local officials and identified numerous violations of election law,” runs the statement by the Bureau of the Saratov branch of YABLOKO...

Modernisation Versus Stagnation?

By Sergei Mitrokhin
Politkom.ru, June 15, 2010

Parts 1 and 2

Announcing a policy towards modernisation in Russia President of Russia put himself in line with a number of Russian rulers-reformers who aspired to perform radical transformations in the country. Some specific traits of this policy resemble those of his predecessors. The President understands modernisation primarily as acceleration of scientific and technological development. With some reservations about the need for political reform, the latter look like a number of quite shallow and very systematic activities...

Russian and European Integration

Speech by Sergei Mitrokhin
Liberal International Executive Committee
Berlin, June 11, 2010

Announcing a policy towards modernisation in Russia President of Russia put himself in line with a number of Russian rulers-reformers who aspired to perform radical transformations in the country. Some specific traits of this policy resemble those of his predecessors. The President understands modernisation primarily as acceleration of scientific and technological development. With some reservations about the need for political reform, the latter look like a number of quite shallow and very systematic activities...

Action against mandatory army conscription took place by the Ministry of Defence

Press Release, June 15, 2010

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Action against mandatory army conscription organised by the Youth YABLOKO took place by the Ministry of Defence on June 15. Ten YABLOKO’s activists were holding a slogan “How many of us should die so that you abolish mandatory army conscription?” and also chanted “Away with mandatory army conscription, let’s transfer to a contract conscription!”...

...The picket resumed at the Gogol Boulvalrd. The organiser of the action Kirill Gontcharov stated that incessant chain of deaths of young conscripts made YABLOKO to hold such an action. He also noted that “due to corruption only children from poor families serve in the army”. “Instead of defending our motherland our soldiers have to build country houses for generals and clean water closets,” he added. He also said that “harassment of subordinates became a symbol of the Russian army”...

YABLOKO’s leader made a speech at the Executive Committee of Liberal International

Press Release, June 13, 2010

On June 11 YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin made a speech at the Executive Committee of Liberal International in Berlin. As Sergei Mitrokhin’s speech was scheduled in the agenda item “Human Rights in the Authoritarian States”, he spoke about police breaking YABLOKO’s picket by the Russian parliament which was conducted against adoption of the law “on preventive measures against extremism”, as well as breaking of a peaceful rally on the Triumfalnaya square in Moscow on May 31.

The participants of the Executive Committee also received Sergei Mitrokhin’s report “Russia and European Integration”. In this report YABLOKO’s leader once again stressed the necessity to work out a single strategy for EU interaction with Russia, which should be based on integration, rather than confrontation. According to Mitrokhin, the first step in realisation of this strategy would be introduction of a visa-free regime between Russia and the European Union.

Another example of realization of this uniform strategy, runs the report, may be the Anti-Ballistic Missile Defence system (ABM) as a joint project of the RF and NATO countries. “Both the West and Russia will profit from such cooperation and lose from confrontation, as democracy can not develop in anti-Western hysteria”, Mitrokhin stressed.

The report also indicates that cooperation between Russia and the European Union should take place in the field of environmental safety too.

According to Mitrokhin, “the present political and economic situation in the country can be characterised as the ongoing stagnation which began under Putin. Russia’s modernisation announced by President Medvedev has been taking place in words only”...

YABLOKO’s activists arrested by the Russian parliament for picketing against the FSB law finally released, however, are facing a trial

Press Release, June 11, 2010.

..Major Brezhnev personally participated in detaining Grokhovsky: first he dragged Artur to the police car and then hit him in the belly. Now Anton is heading to the hospital to certify the bruises.

Grokhovsky also told that in February he had been already arrested by the same policeman for one-person picketing. Due to the video recording made by YABLOKO Grokhovsky was acquitted by the court then. Grokhovsky hopes that the court will acquit the activists this time too, as the action was also recorded...

Liberal International to discuss arbitrary actions of Moscow police in breaking YABLOKO's picket

Press Release, June 11, 2010.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin expressed his indignation with police breaking of YABLOKO’s one-person picket and arresting the activists protesting against the amendments to the law on the Federal Security Service (former KGB) by the Russian parliament building. No permission or coordination with authorities is required for conducting one-person pickets in accordance with the Russian law. Nevertheless the picket was brutally broken and the activists were arrested.

Mitrokhin said that actions by police officers who arrested the activist holding the placard, as well as three other activists who were standing by were a rude violation of the Constitution and the law “On assemblies, meetings, demonstrations and pickets”...

Action “Preventing Extremism” brutally broken by police

Press Release, June 11, 2010. Video, photos.

Action against introduction of amendments on the law on the Federal Security Service (the former KGB), which YABLOKO attempted to hold today by the building of the State Duma (the Russian Parliament) was brutally broken by police. Despite of the fact that it was a one-person picketing (four activists had to replace each other in turn) and did not require any permissions or notifications from the authorities, four YABLOKO’s activists were arrested and taken to the local police department and a placard depicting the head of KGB Felix Dzerzhinsky, the closest accomplice of Stalin in setting terror in the country Lavrenty Beria, and Vladimir Putin and bearing a the words "The KGB people vote FOR it!" was confiscated.

On June 11, at 9.30 am, half an hour before the plenary session the Russian parliament had to start, First Deputy Chair of the Moscow Yabloko Galina Mikhalyova took her place by the main entrance to the parliament building with a placard depicting Felix Dzerzhinsky, Lavrenty Beria and Vladimir Putin against a black ground and a hand voting for them. “The law on preventing extremism. The KGB people vote FOR it!" ran the slogan under the picture. The Russian parliament will discuss this draft law in the first reading today...

Svetlana Kuznetsova, head of the Soldiers’ Mothers faction, on amendments to the law on the military service submitted to the Russian parliament

Press Release, June 9, 2010.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, head of the Soldiers’ Mothers faction in the YABLOKO party, says that “YABLOKO is categorically against the amendments referring to a legalized “buy-out” from the army service, as they are discriminatory and targeted at commercialization of the army. The authors of the amendments say that the state does not have enough money for a contract-based army; whereas every such one million roubles [about USD 30,000 paid by a young person wishing to avoid mandatory military service] will suffice for maintenance of two contract soldiers. Since 2001 YABLOKO has been insisting that the state has enough money on a contract army and our economists can prove that”...

Journalist and YABLOKO member Yuri Schekochikhin would have turned 60 today…

Grigory Yavlinsky’s letter to Vsevolod Bogdanov, Chair of Russia’s Journalists Union, June 9, 2010.

Yuri Schekochikhin is an event in the lives of all of us, an event both in our journalism and in politics. Whatever he did - wrote play scripts, engaged in journalist investigation or worked as a Russian parliament member – all was very different from how other people did this, all had an imprint of his personality, talent and his understanding of freedom and justice.

Yuri Petrovich was not merely a politician in the ordinary sense or the word, he understood life as the one who had the ability to transform it. A special atmosphere always emerged around him, and there was place for different people by his side. And he still unites us all, we do not simply keep memories of him, but feel his presence in our life.

Yuri Schekochikhin has always been and remains our friend.

Sincerely,
Grigory Yavlinsky

European Liberals congratulate their two Dutch member parties with their fantastic election results

Press Release, ELDR, June 10, 2010

The VVD has won the Dutch parliamentary elections on Wednesday 9 June, becoming the number one party in the Netherlands for the first time in its 62 year history, with 20.4% of the votes. The election night started with exit polls showing the Liberals and Labour running neck-and-neck, but when 90% of the votes were counted the VVD took the lead with 31 seats (an increase of 9 seats) against 30 for Labour, which lost three seats...

The other ELDR member party, the social liberal D66 obtained 7% of the votes and more than tripled its number of seats, from 3 to 10. D66 achieved the highest result in Wageningen, the hometown of its Political leader Alexander Pechtold; 15%.

ELDR President Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck MEP: "I am thrilled to see that both our Dutch member parties have achieved such good results. It confirms our conviction that citizens expect leadership in these times of crisis and support parties which are not afraid to implement liberal reforms and tough measures to achieve again a sustainable budget."

See also:YABLOKO's Sister-Parties

Flash mob in protection of the Lake Baikal at the Red Square

Press Release. June 5, 2010. Video, photographs.

On June 5, the World Environment Day, the activists of the YABLOKO party conducted a flash mob at the Red Square. YABLOKO’s activists carried a large white banner showing the Lake Baikal chanting "Hands off of the Lake Baikal!" The same slogan was printed on their shirts. However, this march was broken by police and all the participants of the action were taken to the police station...

On the same day an action against another problem – raising of water level in the Cheboksary reservoir was held in Nizhni Novgorod. YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin and head of YABLOKO’s Green Russian faction Acad. Alexei Yabloko visited Nizhni Novgorod and participated in the picketing...

Destruction of nature has been accelerating

Statement by the YABLOKO party. June 4, 2010

The biosphere of our planet has not improved for the past year. We have been facing dangerous ongoing climate change, deterioration of the condition of the world ocean, shrinking biodiversity, disappearance of the rain forests, aging nuclear power stations and proliferation of nuclear weapons threaten us with another Chernobyl, chemical contamination and the spread of GMOs. Influential international bodies – the G-8 and the G-20, the World Bank, the European and the Asian Banks of Reconstruction and Development - declaring the importance of preserving the planet's ecosystems in words, virtually support quick-profit technologies detrimental on nature.

Lack of stringent environmental control over implementation of commercial projects at the national and the international level leads to a terrible disasters like that we observe in the Gulf of Mexico...

YABLOKO’s leader to visit Nizhni Novgorod

Press Release. June 4, 2010

On Saturday, June 5, YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin will visit Nizhni Novgorod. As part of his mission, Mitrokhin and political scientists and businessmen from Nizhny Novgorod will take part in a roundtable discussion "Environmental and political situation in Russia. The upcoming elections in autumn 2010”. The event will be held at the Higher School of Economics from 09:30 to 10:40. Then Sergei Mitrokhin, will participate in a press conference for regional journalists devoted to the elections. The press conference will take place in the Interfax office (beginning at 11:00).

Then YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin and Chair YABLOKO’s Green Russia faction Acad. Alexei Yablokov will conduct a picket against the raising of the water level in the Cheboksary reservoir. Members of the environmental organization Dront will also participate in the picket...

The murderer of the leader of the Dagestan YABLOKO sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment

newsru.com. June 3, 2010

According to Interfax, the Supreme Court of Dagestan sentenced Rakhil Mamedrezayaev to 15 years of imprisonment in the colony of strict regime, the Jury found Mamedrezayaev guilty of murder of Farid Babayev, the leader of the Dagestan YABLOKO, and unlawful keeping of guns.

The state prosecution asked the court to sentence the accused to 12 years of imprisonment in accordance with Article 105 of the Criminal Code (murder) and to additional five years of imprisonment in accordance with Article 222 of the Criminal Code (unlawful weapons-bearing and keeping of guns). Considering this fact, the Jury acknowledged the accused deserving leniency, the prosecutor asked to give him 16 years in total...

Ombudsman Lukin: Rallies can not be “unsanctioned”

Human Rights in Russia, hro.org. June 2, 2010

Russia’s Ombudsman and one of the founders of the YABLOKO party Vladimir Lukin says that the heads of the interior should apologise before the participants of the rally they arrested at the Triunfalnaya Square, Moscow. He also refuses to sign an agreement on cooperation with the Interior Ministry until this is done, runs the BBC service.

Lukin has also prepared or is going to prepare and submit to the heads of the state proposals on “normalisation of the situation with conducting rallies,” Grani.ru informs with a reference to the Echo Moskvi radio station. Lukin announced this while commenting on police breaking of the action held in protection of Article 31 of the Constitution of Russia which guarantees freedom of assembly. “The Russian law does not contain such words as “sanctioned” or “unsanctioned”, and all the talk about sanctions are purely subjective,” Lukin stated. He also added that the heads of the Interior Ministry should conduct a thorough investigation of the events at the Triumfalnaya Square in Moscow on May 31.

Lukin also reiterated that he himself had been present at the rally and “can state that the law enforcement acted in an extremely tough and rude manner”. He also noted that on the same day the authorities gave a permission to conduct “a ‘gala-medical’ action”; whereas all the participants of this action were allowed to conduct a rally in the centre of Moscow from early in the morning till late at night...

Ombudsman’s Report for 2009 published

Press Release. May 28, 2010

Russia’s Ombudsman and one of the founders of the YABLOKO party Vladimir Lukin published Report - 2009. The Report deals with the most acute problems of human rights in Russia, provides information on Ombudsman’s activities, including dealing with citizens’ requests, interaction with the state bodes and civil society institutes, analysis of the present law in the field of human rights, as well as proposals on its further development. The key factor determining the composition of Lukin’s Report was the dynamics of developments in the field of human rights in Russia...

A long silence by the head of the state

Nezavisimaya Gazeta. June 3, 2010

Yesterday the European Union publicly expressed its concern over the situation with human rights in Russia. Such a statement was made by deputy head of the EU delegation in Russia Michael Webb. On the threashold of the Rostov-Don summit Moscow police brutally supressed an opposition rally. The head of state in the meantime did not respond to both of the developments. NG experts comment that Dmitry Medvedev is deliberately disassociating himself from the urgent problems. They note that Premier Vladimir Putin does not avoid the human rights topic.

Michael Webb of the EU mission said at the news conference in Rostov-on-Don that the European Union was particularly upset by the “situation with human rights activists and murders of journalists in Russia”. “We have also expressed our concern with the fact that the crimes committed by the law enforcement go unpunished,” Webb added...

Moscow YABLOKO delegated its representatives to the Consultative Council under the Moscow City Duma

Press Release. June 2, 2010

Yesterday, on June 1, the Regional Council of the Moscow YABLOKO once again examined the issue of YABLOKO’s participation in the Consultative Council under the Moscow City Duma. It was decided to delegate two YABLOKO’s representatives to the Consultative Council.

Chair of the Moscow YABLOKO Sergei Mitrokhin and member of the Regional Council Elena Morozova were elected out of five candidacies by secret ballot...

YABLOKO demands raising of children’s allowances to the subsistence minimum at picketing by the Ministry of Health Care and Social Development

Press Release. June 1, 2010

Today, on the International Children’s Day, the YABLOKO party conducted a series of one-person pickets by the Ministry of Health Care and Social Development demanding raising of children’s allowances to the child’s subsistence minimum. YABLOKO’s activists demonstrated what a person can buy with child’s allowance amounting to RUR 750 (approximately USD 25 per month).

The Moscow authorities did not give their permit to conduct this action. The activists held placards “Raise the allowance to the subsistence minimum!” and “Subsistence minimum of RUR 7,006 = children’s allowance of RUR 750?”...

Breaking up of rallies means professional incompetence of the Russian government

Statement by the YABLOKO party. June 1, 2010

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO consders the reaction of the authorities to the protest actions that took place in Moscow, St.Petersburg and other Russian cities yesterday be unacceptable and absurd.

A deliberately tough use of obviously superior police forces against the groups of citizens who simply expressed their opinion without endangering anyone’s security represents a proof of inability of state officials, top officials inclusive, to adequately assess the situation in the country...

On the death of Andrei Voznesensky

Condolences by Sergei Mitrokhin
June 1, 2010

Andrei Voznesensky symbolized for many people not only a new word not only in poetry, but also in life. Bright, free and always in search of new forms he long ago became a part of our modern culture, turned into its history.

I express my deep condolences to his spouse Zoya Boguslavskaya, friends and next-of-kin of outstanding poet Andrei Voznesensky.

Sincerely,
Sergei Mitrokhin,
Chair of the YABLOKO party

Nomination of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov by the Russian Chess Federation for candidacy of FIDE President means a disgrace for Russia

Decision of YABLOKO’s Bureau from May 22, 2010. May 31, 2010

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO has already made several statements that Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s regime in the Republic of Kalmykia is one of the ugliest developments in Russia’s political history of the past two decades representing a disgusting mixture of authoritarian rule, corruption and criminal.

Fight against this regime has in 1998 taken the life of Larissa Yudina, Chair of the Kalmyk regional branch of YABLOKO, whereas Kirsan Ilyumzhinov’s aid was found guilty of this murder. The political responsibility for this crime lies, in our view, completely on Kirsan Ilyumzhinov...

The eldest blogger of the Runet turns 85

Press Release. May 30, 2010

Engelina Borisovna Tareyeva, member of the Moscow YABLOKO Regional Council and the eldest blogger of the Russian segment of the Internet (Runet) turns 85 today, on May 30. Her Live Journal has over 4.500 readers.

Engelina Tareyeva writes about the events that took place 50, 60 and even 70 years ago very brightly, interesting and wisely. She writes about these developments as if they happened yesterday...

In support of Mezhduryechinsk miners

Statement by the YABLOKO party. May 29, 2010

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO once again conveys its condolences to the relatives and next-of-kin of the miners killed during the accident at the Raspadskaya mine. Regardless of the specific reasons leading to the accident at the mine, it is obvious that the problem is system-driven. This is confirmed by another accident at the Alexeyevskaya mine which followed the accident at Raspadskaya.

The owners of the mines set such rules and regulations which make the miners to neglect the safety requirement and risk their lives so that to get more or less adequate wages. A civilised dialogue with the employer turns out to be impossible: the owners of the mines being aware that the miners will not be able to find another job talk with them from a position of force. The possibilities of a labour dispute or a strike are restricted by law...

An unlearned lesson of totalitarian past

Press Release. May 28, 2010

Another lecture in the series of the Evening Party University lectures took place on May 26 in YABLOKO’s office, Moscow. The lecture “An unlearned lesson of the totalitarian past” was delivered by Galina Mikhalyova, Executive Secretary of YABLOKO’s Political Committee and head of the Evening Party University.

Mikhalyova presented the decision by YABLOKO’s Political Committee on overcoming Bolsheviks’ and Stalin’s legacy as a condition for Russia’s modernization in the 21st century. She also presented a second edition of the book Overcoming Stalin’s Legacy which runs that Russia’s development is impossible without state assessment of totalitarian past.

Mikhlyova also noted that the crimes of the Soviet period affected virtually every family: “Stalin’s methods of governing led to deaths of millions of Soviet citizens, and dozens of millions people were affected by political reprisals and deportations”...

Public Prosecutor to check the lawfulness of pulling down of historical buildings in Kadashi, Moscow

Press Release. May 27, 2010

On May 27, Chair of the YABLOKO party Sergei Mitrokhin forwarded a letter to V.Shevshuk, Public Prosecutor of Moscow, and A.Kibovsky, head of the Rosokhrankultura (Agency for preservation of historic and cultural heritage) with a request to stop unlawful pulling down of buildings in the territory of the Resurrection Temple in Kadashi, Moscow.

The buildings that had to be pulled down on May 24 in Kadashi are situated within the boundaries of a historical and cultural heritage zone, and any works except for preservation and regeneration are prohibited there. Mitrokhin also expressed his doubts in the lawfulness of the permit issued by Moskomnasleydiye (the Moscow Heritage Committee) to pull down buildings there...

President of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is reminded of the murder of Larissa Yudina

Press Release, May 26, 2010

Activists from the Youth YABLOKO were waiting for President of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov be the entrance to the office of the Echo Moskvi radio station so that to remind him of the murder of Larissa Yudina, a journalist and leader of the Kalmykia branch of YABLOKO, killed 12 years ago... Larissa Yudina, the leader of Kalmyk YABLOKO and Editor-in-Chief of oppositional Sovietskaya Kalmykia Segodnya paper, was murdered 12 years ago on June 7, 1998. The official investigation does not name the person who ordered this crime, however, they obviously know this person. The question about Ilyumzhinov’s personal involvement in the crime is still open, as the organiser of the murder S.Vaskin (a person with repeated convictions) was Ilyumzhinov’s Legal Advisor...

“The person who ordered the murder of Larissa Yudina and all the people involved in this crime should not avoid punishment. The goal of objective investigation should be suspend the proxy of Ilyumzhinov as President of Kalmykia,” runs the statement by YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin.

Small Business Goes into Politics

Press Release. May 26, 2010

“The present political regime representing oligarchs and monopolies does not need small businesses in general. Representatives of the small business demolished as a class should resist this,” Sergei Mitrokhin, YABLOKO’s leader, said at a rally...

The rally adopted a resolution calling the authorities to stop demolishing the small businesses and also unanimously supported the proposal to call all the entrepreneurs to join around YABLOKO “which is the only party protecting small business”.

The United Kingdom Elections 2010

By Robert Woodthorpe Browne. Special for YABLOKO's web-site. May 26, 2010

...Now the UK has a coalition Government, in which Nick Clegg is Deputy Prime Minister, with 5 LibDems in the Cabinet and a further 15 as junior ministers. The legislative programme, read out by Queen Elizabeth II yesterday, contains very many policies from the LibDem manifesto, and the two parties are committed to a 5 year government to enable them to carry out their reforms and eliminate the deficit.

The real lesson to be learned from a Russian point of view is that the UK suffered from limited access to the media for minor parties. If a platform is given to others – as in the prime ministerial debates – the people are able to make an informed choice and will be excited by a political process that they will not think to have been “fixed” by those already in power.

Absurd and discriminatory norms of the law “On the Basic Guarantees of Franchise…” should be abolished

Statement by the YABLOKO party, May 25, 2010

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO expresses support to Andrei Malitsky in his litigation of the norm of the Federal Law “On the Basic Guarantees of Franchise and the Right to Participate in a Referendum”.

According to the present norm of the law, a citizen of the Russian Federation having residence permits in other states is not allowed to be member of electoral commission...

The Moscow branch of YABLOKO elected its leading bodies and proposed to change the Moscow Mayor

Press Release, May 24, 2010

The conference of the Moscow YABLOKO which took place yesterday, on May 23, confirmed its opposition to the Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov and his government and called the country to return to the direct election of the Moscow Mayor (the Moscow Mayor enjoys the Governor status).

“In the federal authorities are not ready to return to the election of all governors, it can at least make an exception for the cities of federal importance – Moscow and St.Petersburg – where the city dwellers unlike residents of other cities are deprived of the right to elect the city heads,” runs the statement of the Moscow YABLOKO.

Draft statement “On the political crisis in Moscow and the ways out of it” was submitted by YABLOKO’s leader and chair of its Moscow branch Sergei Mitrokhin...

The court once again recognised the killer of the leader of the Dagestan YABLOKO guilty or murder

Interfax, May 22, 2010

The Jury of the Supreme Court of Dagestan return a verdict on the murder of the leader of the Dagestan regional branch of the YABLOKO party Farid Babayev.

According to Interfax correspondent, one of the accused was recognised guilty, and the second was acquitted.

The Jury ruled out the Rasil Mamedrizayev who had been accused of the murder and keeping of weapon was guilty of the crime...

On pressure on the witnesses in the case of Farid Babayev, the murdered leader of the Dagestan YABLOKO

Statement by the Bureau of the YABLOKO party. May 20, 2010

The YABLOKO party has been closely following the trial on the murder of Farid Babayev, the leader of the Dagestan YABLOKO and a human rights activist.

On June 4, 2009, the Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Russia abrogated the previous decision of the Jury and a sentence passed against Rasil Mamedrizayev and Seferali Sefemerzoyev and returned the case to another trial by a new composition of the Jury. It is expected that a new sentence against the culprits will be passed soon.

The YABLOKO party has several times expressed its concern over open pressure applied by the interested side to the witnesses and the Jury, and consequently they either changed or refused from their previous testimony against the culprits...

Nick Clegg ready to shake up UK democracy

LI News Issue 184, May 14, 2010

UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg (Leader of LI Full Member the Liberal Democrats) this week pledged the “biggest shake up of [UK] democracy in 178 years”, as he vowed to extend plans for political reform and promised to restore the British voter's faith in politics. He laid out his view for a liberal Great Britain during a speech on Wednesday, in which he also said the aim was to 'transform [UK] politics so the state has far less control over you, and you have far more control over the state'. This would include significant measures and reforms aimed at improving British citizen's right to privacy. Mr. Clegg stated: “I'm talking about the most significant programme of empowerment by a British government since the great enfranchisement of the 19th Century. The biggest shake up of our democracy since 1832, when the Great Reform Act redrew the boundaries of British democracy, for the first time extending the franchise beyond the landed classes. Incremental change will not do. It is time for a wholesale, big bang approach to political reform.'

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Yekaterinburg Mayor tries to get RUR 600,000 from deputy of the Yekaterinburg Duma Petlin as compensation for criticism

Press Release. May 19, 2010

On May 17 deputy of the Yekaterinburg Duma Maxim Petlin received a notification from one of the district courts of Yekaterinburg that Mayor Chernetsky filed a protest on the court decision on the libel case (case No 2-134). Earlier the court had turned down the libel suit by Mayor Chernetsky to Maxim Petlin and television channel Russia which broadcasted Petlin’s critical statement about the situation with kindergartens in the city. The court also had charged the Mayor RUR 20,000 (about USD 700) for compensation of the legal costs incurred by Maxim Petlin...

Anti-Corruption Commission under the Moscow Mayor dissolved after YABLOKO’s criticism

Press Release. May 19, 2010

Yesterday First Deputy Mayor of Moscow Vladimir Resin annulled his earlier order of May 5 on creation of an anticorruption commission in the Moscow construction sector.

A day before this on May 17, Alexander Gnezdilov, Deputy Chair of the Moscow YABLOKO and the Youth Chamber under the Moscow City Duma, in his speech in the Moscow parliament sharply criticized the composition of the commission. He stated that it was inadmissible when Moscow officials with criminal cases opened against them participate in the anticorruption commission. For example, Alexander Levchenko, head of the Moscow roads, bridges and infrasrtucture construction department, was included into the commission despite of the fact that a criminal persecution due to his abuse of authority had been launched against him...

The first suit against the State Plan of Moscow Development motioned

Press Release. May 18, 2010

The YABLOKO party has motioned a suit in the first instance court demanding to oblige the Moscow authorities to provide a state expertise the State Plan of Moscow Development. “According to our information, the State Plan of Moscow Development has not received a positive conclusion from the state expertise in spite of the fact that Mosgosekspertiza (Moscow State Expertise Agency) under the Moscow Government was mandated to conduct it. As far as we know, most experts were dissatisfied with the solution of transport problems in the new plan,” runs the statement signed by YABLOKO’s Chair Sergei Mitrokhin...

Miners’ demands should be satisfied

Statement by the YABLOKO party. May 17, 2010

...This problem can be solved only via a dialogue with the workers. Russian large business treating independent trade unions like enemies will no go for such a dialogue, therefore, creation of conditions for such a dialogue should become a direct responsibility of the authorities of all levels.

Miners have the right to fight for safe working conditions and decent living. The state must make a radical revision of the labour law and change its attitude to the regulators that have to control implementation of the law.

We are calling President of Russia to create a special commission for examination of the justified claims of the miners and development of social support measures for their families from the federal budget...

Is Modernisation in Russia Possible? Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky and Boris Titov by Yury Pronko, "The Real Time" programme, Radio Finam, May 12, 2010

Parts 1 and 2

...Yavlinsky: Well, it’s correct. You can live like this, and live like this for a long time. Or not so long, it depends. Approximately 25% of the population of our country are satisfied with the situation, and will be satisfied. The economic system created in the country is a stable system, a self-reproducing system with its social support, and it should be noted, with a strong public support, the key feature of this system which is that people who live in this system and use it do not wish to part with it, because this would worsen their situation very rapidly. [Our] people are mostly well-educated, intelligent, they understand that such a system will not last long in a strategic sense, but to part with it at present, today would mean worsening of their situation today and tomorrow. Therefore, they do not want this. The system has shown for the past ten years, that if the situation on the world markets is more or less favourable, than the system will be functioning and provide good growth rates...

Finding a Strategy For Europe
By Grigory Yavlinsky and Alexander Shishlov
ALDE Bulletin, N°2, 2010. PACE Session. 26-30 April 2010

It was 65 years ago that the World War II ended. The scope of the disaster was so devastating that the entire world learned the lesson and found ways for reconciliation of the recent foes and creation of international mechanisms for peaceful development of the mankind. Responsibility and intellect of politicians, experts and public leaders took over narrow national and corporate interests allowing to formulate common approaches to the construction of a new Europe and a new world. After the war, the UN and the Council of Europe were established and the integration of the European democratic states leading to today’s European Union began. The Liberal International was created, and its Oxford Manifesto of 1947 proclaimed liberal values to be a must for future development. Freedom and democracy, human rights and rule of law became key components of the new world order. In spite of the fact that half of Europe remained under Stalin’s totalitarian dictatorship, progress was irreversible. This value-orientation proved to be successful as the communist regimes collapsed in the USSR and Eastern Europe...

Youth YABLOKO conducted a flash mob under the slogan “We Do not Need Such Television!”

Press Release. May 12, 2010

On May 12, the Youth YABLOKO organisation conducted a flash mob by the Ostankino TV centre under the slogan “We Do not Need Such Television!” Four young activists brought a TV set to the entrance of Ostankino centre and placards “For the Freedom of Speech!”, “For Independent Media!”. Then young people broke the TV set shouting “Putin, change the format!” and “We are tired of TV brainwashing!”...

Sergei Mitrokhin’s condolences on the tragedy at the Raspadskaya mine

May 12, 2010

We are sharing the pain of all those who lost their relatives and next-of-kin in the explosion at the Raspadskaya mine. Whatever the objective and subjective causes of the accident were, we can not return these lives and crying only won’t help us. We know that miners are courageous people who can patiently and with great dignity bear such things. I hope God gives you strength to bear this pain.

We are sharing your pain and your grief.

On behalf of all the YABLOKO members,

Sergei Mitrokhin,
Chair of the YABLOKO party

YABLOKO commemorated the victims of the Second World War

Press Release, May 9, 2010

On the 65th anniversary of the victory in the Second World War the YABLOKO party commemorated the victims of the war laying flowers to the Eternal Flame over the mass grave of the largest military burial ground in Moscow – the Preobrazhensky Cemetery. Such memory actions have been traditionally conducted by YABLOKO at the Preobrazhenskoye cemetery for several years already.

On behalf of the party the wreaths were laid by YABLOKO’s leaders Sergei Mitrokhin and Grigory Yavlinsky, Political Committee member Sergei Ivanenko, deputy Chair of the Moscow YABLOKO Ivan Bolshakov and leader of the Moscow Region branch of YABLOKO retired General Major Anton Goretsky and his deputy Dmitry Ilyushin...

Activists of the YABLOKO party laid flowers to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Press Release, May 7, 2010

Today activists of the YABLOKO party lay flowers to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexandrovsky Garden by the Kremlin Wall. YABLOKO’s leaders – its Chair Sergei Mitrokhin, members of Political Committee Grigory Yavlinsky and Alexei Arbatov, and Anton Goretsky, Chair of the Moscow Region YABLOKO and General Major (retired) participated in the mourning ceremony...

An anti-Stalinist action of the Youth YABLOKO broken out by police in St.Petersburg

Press Release, May 7, 2010

Today the Youth organisation of YABLOKO conducted a series of one-person pickets by the Kazan Cathedral in the centre of St.Petersburg. YABLOKO protests against placement of Stalin portraits in the city. “We are outraged by emergence of portraits of the executioner of the people on the threashold of the Great Victory Day. It is inadmissible to place portraits (whatever they may be) of a man who broke millions of lives, was an absolutely talentless leader of the army and killed the heroes who had protected Leningrad during blockade,” stated the organisers of the action.

Four young YABLOKO’s activists dressed in prisoners’ clothes and bearing plates on their chests with a list of Stalin’s crimes were spreading leaflets. The leaflets described Stalin’s crimes and explained why his portrait was an insult of the memory of the war and its victims...

President of Russia should give his assessment of Stalinism

Statement by YABLOKO’s Chairman, May 6, 2010

The fact that Stalin’s portraits as a Marshall of Victory finally have not emerged in the Moscow streets is a great achievement of our civil society.

The YABLOKO party took an active part in the campaign. In our first statement we said that there is no place for Stalin’s portraits in the V-Day decoration of Moscow streets and squares.

However, placement of the materials of totalitarian propaganda (that have already been printed) in the Moscow museums and public centres makes us to return to this issue once again...

City Duma Approves Disputed Genplan

The Moscow Times, May 6, 2010

...Sergei Mitrokhin, leader of the Yabloko opposition party and a former Duma deputy, voiced doubts that the Public Chamber had a chance of defeating City Hall in court. “All court cases will be lost,” Mitrokhin said, adding that the critics faced a tough fight with “hungry investors” coming to “snatch up the city.”

He said the opponents managed to score a minor victory when they forced City Hall to remove new waste-burning plants within the Moscow city lim its from the Genplan...

See also: Human Rights

The March of Changes took place in Moscow

Press Release, May 1, 2010

About 1,200 people participated in the March of Changes organised by YABLOKO on May 1.

The columns of demonstrators with YABLOKO’s flags and white balloons marched from the Maly Theatre towards the Lubyanka square. The leaders of the party, human rights activists and ecologists held a slogan “For the Changes!”

“For the Changes! For Russia! For YABLOKO! We are tired of stagnation! No to oligarchia, yes to democracy!” chanted the demonstrators. When the columns of demonstrators approached the Federal Security Service building a slogan “Away with the power of the KGB!” was heard...

On the need to maintain and develop labour protection system in Russia

Statement by the YABLOKO party, April 28, 2010

...Most of violations of the labour rights are connected with non-observance of the labour protection law. Direct loss from occupational traumatism in the Russian Federation is 250 times higher than in the US and the EU countries. Also the Russian labour law has many gaps leading to mass-scale lawlessness of the workers.

For example, the Russian Labour Code does not contain a notion of labour contract. The Code does not envisage the responsibility of the employer to provide work to the employee. The owner of the company is not liable by his income or property for the company’s performance and damage to the health and life of the workers. Thus, the employers are, on one hand, often interested in bankruptcy of their companies and even prepare such bankruptcies, on the other hand, they neglect labour protection norms considering them unprofitable...

Amendments to the law on the Federal Security Service constitute a political provocation against President of Russia

Statement by the YABLOKO party, April 27, 2010

The YABLOKO party demands from the State Duma to decline the draft law envisaging broadening of competence of the Federal Security Service (FSB) connected with the so-called “special preventive measures” against extremism.

The draft law stipulating that the FSB has the right to announce to the Russian citizens official warnings for the actions that can allegedly cause extremism and arrest them for 15 days for non-obeying to the lawful demand by the FSB officer creates grounds for violation of the law by the FSB staff and is targeted against the dissenting.

Taking into account the lack of transparency and control of the Russian secret services and an extremely wide interpretation of the notion “extremist activity”, as well as systematic bans on rallies and pickets the draft law initiated by the Russian government provides unlimited prospects for security services’ arbitrary rule.

The sanction for non-obeying the warning distorts the legal liability principle, as the liability takes place in case of a definite wrongdoing. The proposed norm envisages in some cases (e.g., for participation in the actions that are not agreed upon with the authorities) even tougher liability for the same violations than envisaged in the present law...

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin: The Treaty on the Black Sea Fleet forms a basis for long-term cooperation between Russia and Ukraine

Interfax, April 27, 2010

“I think that this treaty is useful and profitable for both the countries. This is a step forward towards integration creating a basis for further long-term cooperation,” YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin told to Interfax on Tuesday.

However, considering the fact that Russia simultaneously lowered gas price for Ukraine by 30 per cent, Mitrokhin noted that this was “a high price paid by Russia”.

YABLOKO’s Grigory Yavlinsky and Alexander Shishlov discussed the PACE reform and the Babyev case

www.yavlinsky.ru, April 26, 2010

The key issues on the agenda of discussions between YABLOKO members Grigory Yavlinsky and Alexander Shishlov meetings and PACE politicians are the reforms in PACE and the Council of Europe and drawing public attention to the Babayev case (leader of the Dagestan YABLOKO and candidate to the State Duma Farid Babayev was murdered in 2007, the trial has been still going on).

On April 26-27 the founder of the YABLOKO party Grigory Yavlinsky and member of YABLOKO’s Bureau and ex First Vice Chair of the ALDE Group, PACE, Alexander Shishlov will be in Strasburg on the invitation of one of PACE’s factions - the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (ALDE).

Grigory Yavlinsky and Alexander Shishlov will propose a number of changes to the charter documents of PACE and CE. “The reforms are necessary so that to prevent PACE’s turning into a kind of small UN,” Grigory Yavlinsky stated at a press-conference earlier today...

Grigory Yavlinsky's interview to Vladimir Pozner

The First Channel, programme "Pozner", April 20, 2010 (video and transcript Parts 1 - 3)

YABLOKO commemorated the victims of nuclear disasters by the Rosatom building

Press Release, April 26, 2010

Today, on April 26, on the Memory Day of Nuclear Disasters Victims, YABLOKO held an action commemorating the victims of nuclear disasters by Rosatom (Russia’s Atomic Agency). The police and security guards refused to let YABLOKO’s activists to the territory of Rosatom, therefore the activists fixed the placard “Memory of nuclear disasters victims” on the fence around the building and laid flowers to it.

“Rosatom is a legal successor of the Atomic Ministry and bears full responsibility for the disasters,” said YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin, who also participated in the action. According to Mitrokhin, the victims of these tragedies “have not got due compensations yet”, moreover, even “not all the victims have legal right to such compensations”...

Aid to the victims of nuclear disasters is a moral and political responsibility of the state

Statement by the YABLOKO party on the Memory Day of Nuclear Disasters Victims, April 26, 2010

Today we are commemorating the victims of nuclear disasters, the innocent victims of Novozemesky and Semipalatisnky nuclear testing sites, those who got under the radioactive cloud from Chernobyl, dozens of thousands of Chernobyl liquidators who passed out prematurely, submariners who died in the accident with the Komsomolets submarine and other submarines, and the victims of the disaster and pollution from the Mayak plant and other nuclear facilities.

The state has been trying to forget and avoid responsibility for the life and health of hundreds of thousands Russian citizens living in the territories with radioactive pollution, such as Bryansk, Tula, Oryol, Kaluga, Tomsk, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk and other regions, Yakutia, Altai, Matitime, Baikal and Krasnoyarsk areas, as well as to forget about the consequences of dozens of underground “peaceful” nuclear tests conducted in Russia.

We can not agree with the ideas that “it is high time to forget Chernobyl and the consequences of the cold war” neither from moral grounds nor from academic views: all these consequences of nuclear pollution will affect the health of several further generations. These policies led to the situation when many thousands of involuntary hostages of the nuclear sector can not get just compensations...

Grigory Yavlinsky to visit PACE

www.yavlinsky.ru, April 24, 2010

On April 26-27 Grigory Yavlinsky will have a number of meetings in PACE. Grigory Yavlinsky’s schedule includes meetings with Mr Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr Melvut Çavusoglu, President of the PACE, rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee on Russia, Mr Andreas Gross and Mr Gyorgy Frunda, Mr Dick Marty and rapporteur on the North Caucasus, as well as a speech at the meeting of the Alliance of Liberal and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).

The Spring session of PACE will take place in Strasburg on April 26-30 and will be devoted to the consequences of the economic crisis, the war between Georgia and Russia and other issues...

Grigory Yavlinsky at Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev trial

www.yavlinsky.ru, April 24, 2010

...For three days Khodorkovsky was comparing the real development of the company with the bandit slang of the prosecutors. What the investigators called “criminal schemes” all the world has been learning in business school and paying high fees for that and also reading in the Economics textbooks, i.e. the entire world but for the prosecutors...

The residents of the Rechnik village handed a letter of appreciation to Sergei Mitrokhin

Press Release, April 23, 2010

Yesterday, on April 22, the meeting of the Regional Council of the Moscow YABLOKO discussed the situation in the Rechnik village. Ludmila Gaiduk, the leader of the initiative group of the residents of the village which had had suffered reprisals from the Moscow authorities, made a speech at the meeting. She expressed gratitude to YABLOKO for protection of the village and its residents. Gaiduk handed to Sergei Mitrokhin a letter of appreciation. “Thanks to your speech at the State Council meeting and in the mass media, organisation of picketing in protection of property rights and multiple statements by YABLOKO’s activists we managed to get attention from the country leader to our problem and pulling down of houses was stopped,” runs the letter...

Valery Borschyov: Any shrinking of the field for trials by a jury court is unfavourable

Svoboda Radio, April 21, 2010

Valery Borschyov is ex deputy of the State Duma, member of the Moscow Helsinki Group and Secretary of the YABLOKO Bureau.

Valery Borschyov: Any shrinking of the field for trials by a jury court is unfavourable. It is very bad that cases connected with terrorism and extremism and many other issues connected with this notion have been removed from the jurisdiction of the jury court. Obviously, there is a problem, that, for example, it is impossible to have a trial on terrorists in Chechnya, Ingushetia or Dagestan by a jury court. However, Russia is a large country, and certainly [such cases] can be examined by a jury court in a different federation subject, or by a higher court and not necessarily in the Northern Caucasus, if the terrorist comes from this region. There were concerns voiced that the jury court may acquit terrorists. However, what is the essence of a trial by jury? The jury acquits the accused when investigation has failed.

An action “For St.Petersburg Without Matviyenko” started in the Internet

Press Release, April 20, 2010

Web-site “For St.Petersburg without Matviyenko” (http://www.piter-bez-matvienko.ru/) collecting signatures in favour of resignation of St.Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko has been launched. “We, citizens of St.Petersburg, demand resignation of Governor Valentina Matviyenko; for six and a half years she has been in power we have been clearly shown that the policies conducted by her administration is hostile to the interests of the citizens and represents a consistent violation of their rights,” runs the address to the citizens...

The Courchevel Serfs

By Alexei Melnikov for Gazeta.ru, April 19, 2010

The oligarchs' formula for modernization: the citizens should work more, get less payment, and not complain when they are dismissed without compensation.

People usually name the confrontation between the civil society and a corrupt state be the key political conflict in modern Russia. The latest statement by [tycoon] Mikhail Prokhorov, who voiced the position of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE) on labour legislation, showed the people that there is one more serious conflict. It is called ‘open social confrontation’. Between business and hired labour. The statement by RIUE sis very important.

Maybe for the first time for the past years the society has been openly shown that large business has its own interests; separate from both the "state" and the "public" interests. During the heady "noughties", the large business dressed up in the clothes of bureaucratic patriotism and its face demonstrated a grin of "social responsibility" when in public...

The Russian authorities should take up responsibility for prevention of violence in Kyrgyzstan
Statement by YABLOKO's Chairman, April 19, 2010

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO expresses its extreme concern by the growth of havoc and violence in Kyrgyzstan, which also led to the acts of violence and robbery against Russian citizens and ethnic Russians living in Kyrgyzstan.

In the situation of abrupt weakening of the power and virtual negligence by the law enforcement, nationalistic bashing can end in multiple victims. The duty of the Russian authorities is to prevent murders of our compatriots, as well as the citizens of Kyrgyzstan and all other nations that are left without protection.

We are calling President of Russia and Prime Minister of Russia to take under their personal control the issue of preventing mass killings in Kyrgyzstan, make corresponding public statements and use all the leverages so that to influence the situation...

Top Russian judge killed in Moscow

LI News Issue 179, April 16, 2010

A senior Russian judge who presided over the high-profile trial of a gang of racist killers was assassinated in Moscow on April 12 2010. Eduard Chuvashov, who was shot on the way to work on Monday morning is suspected to have been killed by ultranationalists as revenge, after he jailed three skinheads last week for racially-motivated murders. The Moscow City Court judge has previously sentenced a gang of skinhead youths for similar crimes and also worked on cases involving Russian officials accused of corruption and embezzlement. Sergei Mitrokhin, leader of LI Full Member YABLOKO, commented on the murder that took place in broad daylight in Moscow: “We think that this blatant murder of a federal judge who has been conducting the most resonant cases against nationalists and chauvinists represents a challenge both to the judiciary and the civil society… [it is an attempt] on behalf of nationalistic and fascist forces to frighten and split our multiethnic society over nationalistic issues.”

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On political reprisals against The New Times
Statement of the YABLOKO party, April 15, 2010

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO expresses its support to The New Times magazine in connection with an attempt of the law enforcement to conduct unlawful inspection of documents in the editing house. We think that these actions represent an act of punitive censorship which has to produce a chilling effect on Russian journalists in case they wish to publish articles inconvenient to top military and police officials.

We hope that this event will not interfere with functioning of the editorial house and conducting of serious journalist investigations by the magazine...

Arrest of scientists in St.Petersburg discredits presidential policy
Statement of the YABLOKO party, April 15, 2010

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO calls to release St.Petersburg scientists Eugeni Afanasyev and Svyatoslav Bobyshev.

Considering the “practices” of work of the Federal Security Bureau in the recent years we have all the grounds to state that the accusations set against the scientists in their alleged transfer of state secrets to China are groundless.

Any investigation that the law enforcement consider necessary can be performed without bringing the scientists in custody. We consider such measure of restraint as excessive and demonstratively repressive by nature...

YABLOKO joins the action of the Russian motorists
Statement by YABLOKO's Chairman, April 14, 2010

The YABLOKO party supports the action of the Federation of Russia’s Motorists targeted at introducing amendments into the traffic rules regulating the use of special signals on officials’ cars.

The recent developments on the Russian roads, in particular, a scandal with Presidential Advisor (the post represents virtually a kind of honourable discharge) abusing his right of preferential passage shows the importance of this action and its public importance...

Presentation of the book Overcoming Stalin’s Legacy in Voronezh

Press Release, April 12, 2010

Executive Secretary of YABLOKO’s Political Committee Galina Mikhalyova presented the book Overcoming Stalin’s Legacy in Voronezh on April 10.

Over 20 people participated in the discussion: members of the Regional Council of the YABLOKO party, heads of the Voronezh branch of the Memorial society, history teachers, representatives of youth human rights movement, independent students’ paper Perekhod and the Young Europe international network, those who suffered Stalin’s reprisals and representatives from other parties and movements. Chair of Voronezh YABLOKO Inna Kudryashova stressed that communists were trying to revive Stalin’s cult in Voronezh as well as in other Russia’s cities...

YABLOKO's representatives lay flowers to the Polish Embassy

Press Release, April 12, 2010

YABLOKO's leader Sergei Mitrokhin, Secretary of YABLOKO's Political Committee Galina Mikhalyova, deputy head of the Moscow YABLOKO Ivan Bolshakov and other activists laid flowers to the wall of the Polish Embassy.

Condolences on the death of Polish President in the aircrash

April 10, 2010

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO expresses sincere condolences to the people of Poland and all the next-of-kin of the victims of the aircrash by Smolensk.

On this hard moment of pain we are wishing you strength so that you may overcome it with courage so characteristic of the Polish nation.

The memory of the Katyn tragedy and of those killed in the aircrash will make our nations even closer.

We are sharing your pain and joining you in mourning over the victims.

Sincerely,
Sergei Mitrokhin,
Chair of the YABLOKO party

Interregional conference “Women’s Movement in Russia” took place in Voronezh

Press Release, April 12, 2010

Interregional conference “Women’s Movement in Russia: the Present and Socio-Political Prospects” and the meeting of the Council for Consolidation of Women’s Movement in Russia will take place in Voronezh on April 9, 2010. The conference marked the 10th anniversary of the Voronezh regional movement Women’s Unity.

Co-organisers of the conference were the Council for Consolidation of Women’s Movement in Russia and the Russian Academy of State Service...

Police considers Sergei Mitrokhin’s calls to Governor Gromov to resign as extremism

Press Release, April 10, 2010

Mass rally took place in Tuchkovo, the Moscow region, on April 10. The election of the new head of Tuchkovo was conducted under tough pressure from the city administration composed our of United Russia members. The election results have not been recognised valid yet, as the residents of the area voted for Viktor Alksnis who was in opposition to United Russia...

The police considered Sergei Mitrokhin’s calls to Governor Gromov to resign as extremism and summoned Viktor Alksnis as organiser of the rally to the local police department for explanations. Sergei Mitrokhin and Viktor Alksnis gave their explanations in the police department...

A rally for “Installing order in the housing and utilities sector” held in Moscow

Press Release, April 10, 2010

A mass rally for “Installing order in the housing and utilities sector” organised by the YABLOKO party was held at the Pushkin square, Moscow, on April 10. About 600 people participated in the rally, including initiative groups of Muscovites from different Moscow districts...

“Ten years ago YABLOKO proposed a principally new reform of the housing and utilities sector, where tough control over monopolies had to play the key role. However, our proposal was turned down and the reform developed toward monopolization: the vertical of power began deriving super profits via raising tariffs for the citizens,” Sergei Mitrokhin said at the rally...

Verhofstadt: Historic signature in Prague but a dinner summit without the European Union

Press Release, April 8, 2010

...On the occasion of the forthcoming meeting between President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to sign an agreement on a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty, ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt offered his words of support: “The agreement reached represents a break with the past and makes a major contribution to the ambition of building a safer world without nuclear weapons. I am strongly encouraged by the US-Russia agreement on nuclear arms reduction. I expect it to serve as a basis for the forthcoming summits in Washington D.C. and New York that will frame international consensus on tackling nuclear proliferation. President Obama will find strong supporters within the European Union in addressing this challenge...”

The leaders of YABLOKO and the Russian Medical Association signed a Memorandum on development of a healthcare reform

Press Release, April 8, 2010

The leaders of YABLOKO and the Russian Medical Association (RMA) signed today a Memorandum on state policies in healthcare and a healthcare reform.

“The positions, approaches and the concept of the healthcare reform proposed by the RMA completely coincide with YABLOKO’s approach,” Sergei Mitrokhin said opening the press-conference. According to Mitrokhin, the party will reinforce its programme in the part of healthcare measures and will get a possibility to work with Russia’s medical community.

“Our common task is not only formulate a concept of a healthcare reform and translate medical and research tasks into a political language, but also to protect doctors and patients,” added Galina Mikhalyova, Executive Secretary of YABLOKO’s Political Committee.

“The slogan of our party has been “Freedom and Justice”, Mitrokhin reiterated. “However, the main drawback of the present healthcare system is the lack of both of them. And YABLOKO and the Russian Medical Association completely agree in their vision of this problem,” he said...

YABLOKO commemorated the victims of bombings in the Moscow metro

Press Release, Photo Report, April 6, 2010

On the ninth day after the acts of terror in the Moscow metro YABLOKO’s activists and students of Moscow universities commemorated the victims of the tragedy.

There is more to modernisation than light bulbs of a new generation

Grigory Yavlinsky insists that modernisation concept should include political reforms

Kommersant, April 6, 2010

...In his turn Grigory Yavlinsky, co-chair of the Council of ZaModernozatsiyu.Ru and member of YABLOKO’s Political Committee, stated that that "discussing enforced modernisation would be a waste of time and effort”. "History shows us that a totalitarian regime can transform an
agrarian state into industrial, however an industrial state can not be transformed into a post-industrial in such a way." “We have a country of total literacy, however why should we seriously discuss Skolkovo (Kommersant: creation of the Russian Silicon Valley there),” Yavlinsky said. “This is like growing corn which we all witnessed once (Mr.Yavlinsky is speaking here about countrywide cultivation of corn initiated by Secretary General of the Communist Party Nikita Khrushchev in early 1960s)! The same thing has been happening with nanotechnologies. Why should we discuss this on a national level?!”...

Grigory Yavlinsky’s master class in Vienna

ICEUR, Vienna, April 4, 2010

Yavlinsky’s master class sparks buoyant discussion, generates new ideas
ICEUR's first master class starring reform economist and opposition leader Grigory Yavlinsky was held on 26th March, 2010, at the International Press Club Concordia in Vienna. It was attended by a select audience including diplomats, journalists, members of the scientific community and students. At the beginning of the session which held the participants in suspense for almost three hours, Yavlinsky analyzed the current situation in Russia and identified six preconditions for reform which, in his mind, could lead Russia out of the present impasse. A successful economic reform, he argued, was impossible without the realization of property rights, a functioning local administration, an independent justice and a new relationship between citizens and authorities...

The Youth branch of YABLOKO calls to introduce a visa-free regime between Russia and EU during its action by EU representation in Moscow

Press Release, April 5, 2010

An action by the Youth branch of the YABLOKO party “To Europe without Visas” took place by EU representation in Moscow today, on the day on coming into force of the Visa Code of the EU. Young YABLOKO’s activists were holding flags of Russia and the European Union and were chanting slogans “Russia is a part of Europe!”, “To Europe without visas!” and “No wasting time in queues by the consulate departments!” “A visa-free entrance of the Russian citizens to Europe conditions Russia’s becoming an integral part of Europe,” Maxim Kruglov, one of the leader of the Youth YABLOKO said. “Young people would like to get education in Europe, to travel there and to see how Europeans live,” he added.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin also came to the Embassy to support the young activists. Mitrokhin said that the initiative of elimination of visa barriers between Russia and EU belongs to YABLOKO. For the first time this idea was proposed by the Yabloko faction of the Russian parliament in 1995. “This idea was supported by Russia’s Foreign Ministry after a long period of our talks and negotiations with them,” Mitrokhin said. YABLOKO's leader also raised the issue of a visa-free regime the congress and meetings of the ELDR party (of which YABLOKO is a fully-fledged member), as well as the meetings of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (ALDE), the third largest group of the European Parliament...

Presentation of Alexei Arbatov’s book “The Equation of Security

Press Release, April 5, 2010

Presentation of a book “The Equation of Security” by Dr.Alexei Arbatov, member of YABLOKO’s Political Committee, head of the International Security Centre with the Russian Academy of Sciences, took place in YABLOKO’s Moscow office today. YABLOKO’s leader Dr.Sergei Mitrokhin and member of Political Committee and the founder of the party Dr.Grigory Yavlinsky participated in the presentation.

The book offers an assessment of the international security system and the place of the Russian Federation in the present changeable concept of international relations. Some of the key postulates of the book lie in the decision of YABLOKO’s Political Committee “On Russia’s Foreign Policies”...

Conference “Women’s Movement in Russia: the Present and Socio-Political Prospects”

Press Release, April 2, 2010

Interregional conference “Women’s Movement in Russia: the Present and Socio-Political Prospects” and the meeting of the Council for Consolidation of Women’s Movement in Russia will take place in Voronezh on April 9, 2010. Chair of YABLOKO’s Gender faction and Co-Chair of the Council for Consolidation of Women’s Movement Galina Mikhalyova will make a report at the conference “The Political Prospects of Women’s Movement at the Present Stage”...

The leader of Sverdlovsk branch of YABLOKO wins the libel case initiated by Yekaterinburg Mayor

Press Release, April 2, 2010

Today, on April 2, Yekaterinburg district court turned down the libel claim motioned by the city Mayor Arkady Chernetsky against deputy of the city Duma and leader of the local branch of YABLOKO Maxim Petlin. The court charged the Mayor RUR 20,000 (about USD 700) for compensation of the legal costs incurred by Maxim Petlin.

Chernetsky started a legal case against Petlin after the latter said in the TV programme that Chernetsky had “sold half of kindergartens buildings”. The Mayor called this phrase a libel and motioned a libel case against Petlin. The second defender in the court was Rossiya television channel which had broadcasted Petlin’s interview and showed an item on alienation of large number of kindergartens in favour of Chernetsky’s family members...

Sergei Mitrokhin: Murderers of Chechen farmers should be punished

Press Release, April 1, 2010

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin forwarded to the head of the Investigative Committee at the Public Prosecutor’s Office Alexander Bastirkin a second address demanding to start criminal persecutions on the murder of Chechen farmers gathering herbs by the Arshty village in Ingushetia on February 11-12...

Mitrokhin’s letter based on the facts obtained during investigation of the Memorial human rights centre. Memorial proved that the versions voiced by the top officials that the militants had allegedly used the civilians as a shield and that people had been killed due to the air strikes were incorrect...

“I realise that after yesterday’s statement by Umarov [where he took the responsibility for the acts of terror in the Moscow Metro] the Investigative Committee may have psychological difficulties with the adoption of such a decision, however, this body has to be guided by lawful interests of the citizens protected by law rather than by bandits’ provocative statements,” runs Mitrokhin’s letter...

Liberals condemn attack on Moscow Metro

LI News Issue 177, April1, 2010

Sergei Mitrokhin, Leader of LI Full member YABLOKO, was quick to express his condolences after the deadly attacks on the Moscow Metro on Monday morning. “On behalf of the YABLOKO party I am expressing our deepest condolences to all the relatives of the victims of today's acts of terror, and our support and compassion to all the victims.” He added that Russians should thoroughly investigate the incidents, saying “I demand an objective and urgent investigation of these crimes. I find it necessary that not only the organisers of these acts of terror but also the heads of the security bodies who did not draw any lessons out of the previous crimes of this kind in Moscow and other cities in different parts of the world [will be interrogated].” LI President Hans van Baalen MEP issued a statement earlier this week condemning the attacks: “These cowardly attacks once again show the need for increased international cooperation in the fight against terror. Russia can not defeat terrorism alone. Putin and Medvedev need to reconsider their opposition to NATO and foster stronger relations with its member and partner countries in order to provide better security to its citizens.”

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New edition of the book Overcoming Stalin’s Legacy published

Press Release, March 31, 2010

The book provides the decision of YABLOKO’s Political Committee on overcoming Stalin’s and Bolsheviks’ legacy, offers political assessment of the key issues of Russia’s history in the 20th century and also suggests that overcoming Stalinism and Bolshevism should be the key pre-requisite of Russia’s modernisation. Such a political decision containing an assessment of the Stalin’s system and the coup of October 1917 was adopted for the first time in Russia...

Grigory Yavlinsky paid tribute to the victims of bombing in the Moscow metro

Press Release, March 31, 2010

Today, on the day of mourning of the victims of the acts of terror in the Moscow metro, the founder and the first chairman of the YABLOKO party and member of YABLOKO’s Political Committee Grigory Yavlinsky laid flowers at the Park Kultury metro station...

Condolences from ALDE Group, the European Parliament

March 30, 2010

Outrages act of murder that took place in the Moscow Metro and that killed dozens of people dead and injured does not leave unnoticed. On behalf of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe allow me to express my condolences and solidarity in the face of this tragedy.
Terrorism has no excuse or justification. On this Monday morning in Moscow it has shown its ugliest face. A hideous crime was committed without concern or consideration for human life. We deplore in strongest terms and call to justice all of the perpetrators of this massacre. Fighting terrorism requires determination and cross-border partnership. European Union stands prepared to extend its hand in finding sustainable solutions in persecuting and eliminating terrorism.

Liberal International President condemns Moscow attacks:
“International cooperation is crucial in fighting terrorism”

Statement, March 30, 2010

Liberal International President Hans van Baalen MEP has strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in Moscow. He stressed the need for more cooperation through international organizations in the worldwide war against terrorism. Van Baalen also expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and the Russian people.

According to Van Baalen: “These cowardly attacks once again show the need for increased international cooperation in the fight against terror. Russia can not defeat terrorism alone. Putin and Medvedev need to reconsider their opposition to NATO and foster stronger relations with its member and partner countries in order to provide better security to its citizens. Terrorist networks are linked from Yemen to Afghanistan to Chechnya. Terrorism is an international problem that requires an international solution. We need to take a stand together.”

YABLOKO responds to Moscow attacks

ELDR Press Release, March 29, 2010, 14:36

The ELDR Party wishes to express its condolences to the people and families that have been caught up in the bombings on the Moscow metro system earlier this morning...

Condolences from Kristina Ojuland, member of European Parliament

Statement, March 29, 2010

Respected Sergei Sergeyevich,

Please receive our deepest condolences in view of the acts of terror in Moscow.

An atrocious crime was made and our hearts are with those who were injured. We are grieving about those killed together with their relatives and all the Russian citizens and we are wishing the soonest recovery to the injured.

Terrorism has no place in our world whatever goals they would proclaim.

Sincerely,
Kristina Ojuland,
Deputy of the European Parliament,
the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (ALDE)

A police state is a poor defense against terrorism

Sergei Mitrokhin’s blog at the Echo Moskvi radio web-site, March 29, 2010

On behalf of the YABLOKO party, I am expressing our deepest condolences to all the relatives of the victims of today’s acts of terror, and our support and compassion for all of the victims. I am demanding an objective and urgent investigation of these crimes.

I also find it necessary to investigate not only the organisers of these acts of terror, but also the heads of the security bodies who did not draw any lessons from the previous crimes of this kind that took place in Moscow and other cities across the world.

It would appear that the authorities have lulled themselves into a false sense of security with their own propaganda; the claims that they have successfully ended the war in the Caucasus, that they have allegedly achieved stability in Russia.

Is not it clear that after every operation against militants in the Caucasus we should not confine ourselves to bravura reports and press releases, but we must prepare for the terrorists’ acts of revenge in every Russian settlement, especially in crowded towns and cities...

Sergei Mitrokhin on explosions in the Moscow Metro

Statement, March 29, 2010

On behalf of the YABLOKO party I am expressing our deepest condolences to all the relatives of the victims of today’s acts of terror, and our support and compassion to all the victims.

I demand an objective and urgent investigation of these crimes. I find it necessary that not only the organisers of these acts of terror but also the heads of the security bodies who did not draw any lessons out of the previous crimes of this kind that took place in Moscow and other cities in different parts of the world.

YABLOKO’s rally for protection of the Lake Baikal conducted in Ulan-Ude

Press Release, March 27, 2010

On March 27, a mass rally in protection of the Lake Baikal took place in Ulan-Ude, Buryatia. The rally was organised by YABLOKO’s branch in Buryatia and ecological organisations. About 500 people came to the rally.

The participants of the rally demanded to abrogate the Resolution of the Government of the RF No 1 on launching the Baikal Pulp Plant. The rally called the authorities to develop tourism in the area which would create new jobs for the citizens of Baikalsk, rather than creating jobs at environmentally unfriendly enterprise...

YABLOKO and the Russian Medical Association announce their cooperation

Press Release, March 27, 2010

On March 27, the Political Committee of the YABLOKO party and the Russian Medical Association (RMA) signed a Memorandum on cooperation in reforming the healthcare in Russia.

The Memorandum fixed the intentions of YABLOKO and the RMA to cooperate in development of new approaches to the healthcare reform, determining the priorities for the sector and protection of the rights of the medical workers and the patients.

Representatives of the RMA headed by their President Ashot Sarkisyan gave YABLOKO’s Political Committee of their proposals on each of the lines of cooperation...

Russia’s Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin sends a letter to Public Prosecutor in defence of the Khimki forest

Press Release, March 25, 2010

Russia’s Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin asked Public Prosecutor Yury Chaika to examine whether the government’s decision to construct a highway Moscow – St.Petersburg that has to go through the Khimki forest was lawful.

In accordance with the order of the Government the lands of the Khimki forest were transferred to the category of “industrial lands”.

In his letter to Public Prosecutor Vladimir Lukin noted that the Khimki forest is a protected natural territory in accordance with the Forestry Code, thus any cuttings should be prohibited there...

See also:

The Battle for Khimki Forest

Stalin’s portraits will split the nation on the Victory Day

An open address to the President of the RF and Pobeda organisational committee, March 24, 2010

Respected Dmitry Anatolyevich,

On behalf of the YABLOKO party I am supporting the decision of the Pobeda (Victory) organisational committee [of the May 9 festivities] on inadmissibility of using the Victory Day for Stalinist propaganda.

However, there are still doubts that placards picturing Joseph Stalin, the executioner of the Russian nation and other nations of the Soviet Union, will not emerge in Moscow streets.

The Moscow government is free to initiate such “social advertising”.

And the fair Victory Day will split the nation as of the attitude to Joseph Stalin rather than become a national unity day. We should not allow that...

Election results in Miass, Chelyabinsk Region

Press Release, March 24, 2010

Vassily Potapov, leader of the Miass branch of YABLOKO, again won the election race to the assembly of the Miass city district. At the first meeting of the new assembly Potapov was unanimously elected chair of the Commission on Regulations, Ethics and Public Relations.

“My first deputy term was a kind of credit of trust, by my second term I regard as support of my views as regards organisation of city governing and my initiatives on making the district more comfortable,” Potapov said. “However, it is a pity that my colleague Viktor Strutz did not manage to win in his electoral district. It would be more difficult for me to find support in the assembly without his participation...”

YABLOKO brought 1,000 people to a rally in Saransk, Mordovia

Press Release, March 21, 2010

On March 21, 2010, a mass-scale rally against corruption in the housing and utilities services sector took place in Saransk, Mordovia. About 1,000 people gathered at the rally organised by YABLOKO.

Chair of the Mordovian YABLOKO Vladimir Gridin opened the rally. In his speech he spoke about unjustified raising of tariffs on electricity, heating and other utilities, also he spoke about fraudulent schemes of transfer of communal lands into municipal land.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin also spoke at the rally. He laid the liability for corruption and violations in the sector on the United Russia party [as its members held the key posts in the sector].

“This party [United Russia] has been stealing your money which deputies and bureaucrats make you pay for the poor quality or even lacking services, as it has been stealing your votes, ascribing itself 99 per cent of the votes at the State Duma elections, “ Mitrokhin said...

European liberals protest over arrests of liberal activists in Russia

LYMEC news, March 22, 2010
On Friday, March 19, three young members of Russia's Yabloko Party were arrested by the police in Omsk, Russia, for gagging a statute in a city park as part of a Europe-wide day of protests against the Belarus dictatorship. The activists were released today but their situation remains precarious in Russia's legal system.
Aloys Rigaut, President of European Liberal Youth, reacted today to this news: 'We are pleased that the three activists were released, but this situation simply should have never happened. The Russian police grossly overreacted in a manner that is incompatible with a country that claims to be a democracy. This example goes to show that the right to a peaceful and non-violent protest is still not something that the Russian people can freely enjoy'. He continued: 'We are particularly worried that one of the activists suffered from a serious medical situation while in prison and was not offered any help. Such actions are unforgivable and should make those responsible for arrest themselves a subject of a criminal investigation.'

Annemie Neyts, ELDR President, also raised her voice immediately last Friday: 'We all must recognize that Russian people are increasingly subjected to a harsh political pressure and denied their freedom of speech. A painful example is the constant exodus of journalists to the near Baltic or Scandinavian countries as political refugees.The three young liberal activists arrested in Russia during a peaceful demonstration against censorship in Belarus represent the noblest example of courageous people unwilling to succumb to a system of controlled information. ELDR strongly asks for the release of the prisoners, for a fair investigation over the detention and calls for the accountability of the government'.

About 500 people came to a rally in Penza

Press Release, March 20, 2010

A rally against raising of transport tax took place in Penza. The rally was organised by an initiative group of Penza car owners at support of the YABLOKO party.

The regional authorities tried to use the media of the city so that not to let people come to the rally. However, about 500 people came to the rally (a good result for Russia). The action was also supported by the activists of the Volya party and the Left Front movement...

The activists held slogans “Government to dismissal!”, “Who will be responsible for fiscal lawlessness?”, “A car is not a luxury. The luxury is the tax”, etc...

A mass-scale rally against corruption in the housing and utilities sector to take place in Saransk, Mordovia

Press Release, March 19, 2010

On Sunday, March 21, a mass-scale rally against corruption in the housing and utilities sector and unlawful seizure of lands by the authorities of the republic will take place in Saransk, Mordovia. The rally will begin at 1 p.m. YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin will also make a speech at the rally.

The organiser of the action, Chair of the Mordovian YABLOKO Vladimir Gridin told about unlawful action of the companies providing housing and utilities services. Thus, for example, heating payments reach 2,000 roubles per a one bedroom flat, whereas average wage amounts to only 5,000 roubles. The city administration, despite the decisions of the court, also refuses to transfer land belonging to the blocks of flats to the citizens owning flats in such houses...

Bribing of voters in Tula confirmed by statistical analysis. UPDATED

Press Release. March 15-19, 2010

Statistical analysis of the voting in Tula at Sunday’s elections to the city parliament demonstrates an obvious correlation between the percentage of the votes obtained by the parties and the voters turnover. The higher is the turnout at an electoral district (a territory), the higher is the average number of voters giving their votes for progovernmental United Russia party, and, consequently, the lower is the percentage for other parties.

This abnormal correlation is observed both at breakdown of the votes as of polling station and as of electoral district (territory). Such a correlation is one more proof that United Russia was bribing voters.

Grigory Yavlinsky made a report in the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House)

yavlinsky.ru, March 19, 2010

Dr. Grigory Yavlinsky made a report at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) at a round table devoted to Russia’s economics and politics.
Dr.Yavlinsky offered his analysis of the roots of the present situation in Russia and gave detailed proposals on a complex of required economic and political reforms.
Note: Chatham House leads the ratings of world analytical centres; it is the third time that Dr.Yavlinsky is invited to make a report in the Chatham House.

Criminal persecution against three activists of the Youth YABLOKO in Omsk

Press Release. March 19, 2010

Three activists of the Omsk Youth YABLOKO organisation arrested at night of March 18 are have been still detained. The Main Interior Department informs that they are accused of vandalism, however, the local police department which is detaining the activists denies this and promises to release the activists soon.

An annual action in support of freedom of speech in Belarus has been held at night March 18 – 19. This is a part of international campaign European Youth Against the Belarus Dictatorship. The participants of the performance gag statues with banners saying “Freedom to Belarus!”

Omsk YABLOKO activists Anton Zhebrun, Mikhail Maglov and Andrei Yermilov were arrested by police when they were gaging a Dostoyevsky statue. They were escorted to the local police department Centralnoye, where they were kept the whole night without water and food. Anton Zhebrun had a heart attack, the police called an ambulance. However, the policemen did not allow the young people to make calls via their mobile phones...

See also a report by European Liberal Youth

OMON and road police do not let the participants of the motor race against construction of a nuclear power station in the Nizhy Novgorod region to enter Moscow

Press Release. March 18, 2010

Special police forces (OMON) and road police have been blocking the column of the motor race against construction of a nuclear power station in the Nizhy Novgorod region at the Moscow Circular Road for 40 minutes already. YABLOKO’s activists and YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin are arrested. Some cars the police left on the road, which led to a traffic jam.

The participants of the race were stopped at the Moscow Circular Road for checking of their documents. However later a police official stated that they were stopped “because of such unsanctioned event”. Special police forces arrived probably to assist the road police in checking the documents...

Liberal International. Newsletter. Issue 175

YABLOKO faces obstruction during Russian regional election

During the Russian regional elections on 14 March there were once again allegations of fraud and manipulation in favour of ruling party United Russia. Liberal International Full Member YABLOKO was not allowed to participate in the regional parliamentary elections in some regions where YABLOKO traditionally obtained good results. YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin commented on the elections: “We think that the situation in Russia has been deteriorating. Our party was not allowed to participate in regional parliamentary elections in two regions (the Sverdlovsk Region and the Kaluga Region), as Russian law contains a discriminatory norm of collection of signatures for non-parliamentary parties [which allows an] oppositional party [to] be ousted from elections”. Despite the obstructions to YABLOKO in the regional elections, on the threshold of federal elections in 2011, the elections showed rising support for the party on the local level. Elections to the municipal assembly in Tula were especially successful: despite alleged fraud in favour of United Russia, YABLOKO obtained over 11 per cent in Tula, considerably improving its previous result in this city (3 per cent in autumn 2009).

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Results of local elections of March 14

Press Release. March 17, 2010

The YABLOKO party obtained over 11 per cent of votes at the Tula City Duma elections getting the right from three to four mandates.

Also YABLOKO’s list got 28.5 per cent of the votes at elections to local legislative assembly of the Solnechny settlement, the Tver region. At present YABLOKO’s deputies are forming a faction YABLOKO – United Democrats in the municipal parliament.

Olga Kurmanskaya, Chair of Commission for Education, Culture and Social Policies and Anatoly Makarov, pensioner and acting deputy of the Astrakhan City Duma were supported by YABLOKO and became deputies of the Astrakhan City Duma getting 49 per cent and 67 per cent of the votes respectively.

YABLOKO’s list at elections to the local assembly of the Nevelsky Area of the Pskov Region was supported by 7.58 per cent of the voters (fourth place). Thus, the party overcomes the barrier and obtains one mandate (as nine mandates out of 17 are distributed in accordance with party lists). Lawyer Svetlana Arsenyeva will become a deputy from YABLOKO...

Candidates supported by YABLOKO get mandates in the Astrakhan City Duma

Press Release. March 15, 2010

Two candidates – Anatoly Makarov and Olga Kurmanskaya – supported by the YABLOKO party got mandates in the Astrakhan City Duma. Both Makarov and Kurmanskaya led in the vote in their electoral districts getting 66.7 and 56.9 per cent of the votes, respectively.

Other YABLOKO’s candidates – Tatyana Semyonova, Igor Avdeyev and Oleg Alexeyev – obtained from 7 to 18 per cent of the votes failing to win the mandates.

“All the participants of the electoral process mark the imitational character of the election to the city parliament. All the results of the voting have been falsified to a lesser of greater extent: for example, there were cases when about 30 per cent of the electorate at one of the electoral districts voted per-term and all for the same candidate,” noted Vadim Monin, leader of the Astrakhan branch of YABLOKO.

YABLOKO obtains 11 per cent of the votes in Tula.

Press Release. March 15, 2010

YABLOKO obtained over 11 per cent of the votes at parliamentary elections in the Tula region, which gives a right of three or four mandates in the regional parliament. However, election campaign was accompanied by multiple violations. Bribing of votes in favour of the United Russia party was observed during pre-term voting and multiple violations took place on the election day.

YABLOKO’s list at the Solnechniy settlement of the Tver Region obtained about 30% of the votes.

YABLOKO’s list at elections of the Assembly of the Nevelsky Area of the Pskov Region is on the verge of overcoming the barrier, however due to multirple fraud the data has not been submitted to the GAS Vibory system (electronic election data base) yet. Nevertheless YABLOKO’s activists obtained 13 mandates in other municipal settlements of the region.

Olga Kurmanskaya and Anatoly Makarov supported by YABLOKO became members of the Astrakhan City Duma obtaining 49 and 67 per cent of the votes in the region electoral districts respectively.

YABLOKO will also get two mandates in the Assembly of the Krasnokamsky Area of the Perm Region. Svetlana Ivanova obtained over 55 per cent of the votes in her district and Arkady Kolokolov over 57 per cent.

Vassily Potapov, YABLOKO’s leader in Miass of the Chelyabinsk Region, obtained about 50 per cent of the votes and was reelected deputy of the Council of Deputies of Miass...

United Russia Wins Regions, but Support is Visibly Down

The Moscow Times. March 15, 2010

...Golos, Russia's leading election watchdog, said the election campaign was as dirty as any in recent years, complaining of United Russia's domination of the media.

The electoral commission blocked the opposition Yabloko party from standing in two regional votes after thousands of signatures collected by the party were ruled invalid...

YABLOKO participates in local elections in 15 Russia’s regions.

Press Release. March 14, 2010

The YABLOKO party participates in local and municipal elections in 15 Russia’s regions: Astrakhan, Voronezh, Kirov, Lipetsk, Tula, Omsk, Pskov, Rostov, Tver, Chelyabinsk regions, Krasnoyarsk, Perm and Khabarovsk areas, the Moscow region and St.Petersburg.

Chair of YABLOKO’s branch in the Khabarovsk area Igor Khovansky runs at parliamentary elections in the Khabarovsk area from YABLOKO.

YABLOKO’s activists also compete for the posts of heads of two large municipal entities: Igor Pershin runs for the Mayor of Shakhti, the Rostov region, and Sergei Parvitsky runs for the post of the head of the Shatura municipal area, the Moscow region.

57 members of YABLOKO compete for 48 parliamentary mandates in the Tula city parliament. YABLOKO’s list is topped by Sergei Filatov, the present deputy of the city Duma.

A heated campaign has developed in the Pskov region. YABLOKO’s candidates run in 12 municipal areas of the region.

However, electoral commissions of the Kaluga and Sverdlovsk regions refused to register YABLOKO in the campaigns to regional parliaments on faked pretexts.

Tula: violations at elections to the Tula City Duma

Press Release. March 14, 2010

Counting of votes at parliamentary elections in Tula goes on. According to the preliminary data YABLOKO obtains 13 per cent of the votes which means three or four mandates in the regional parliament. At the same time observers have fixed multiple violations.

Thus, abnormally high voting outside the polling station was observed at electoral district No 421. About 400 people referring to this district voted at home. YABLOKO’s observer Olga Ushakova lodged a complaint so that the results of the voting at this electoral district should be recognised void. The electoral commission insisted on counting these 400 votes and threatened to expel her from the polling station...

Polling station No 390 demonstrated that about half of all the notifications of voting at home (totaling 89) was received in a single pool at 10 a.m...

Urgency Resolution submitted by the YABLOKO party to the ELDR Council. Rome, March 12, 2010.

Regional Elections in Russia
The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, convening in Rome, Italy on 12th March 2010:
Noting:
- The ELDR Party resolution “Russian Elections” adopted in November 20092;
- That regional elections are taking place this Sunday (14th March 2010) and ELDR’s member party, Yabloko is not being allowed to run in the regions of Sverdlovsk and Kaluga;
- That despite President Medvedev’s statements on access to participating in elections, the Yabloko Party continues to be discriminated against.
Calls on the Russian authorities to:
- Take urgent remedial measures in ensuring free and fair elections and maximum public control over voting;
- Observe Russia’s obligations to ensure democratic standards under its membership of the OSCE and the Council of Europe.
Will:
- Raise this issue with the ALDE Groups in the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.

For a visa-free travel between Russia and the EU as a way to promote mutual trust and cooperation

Speech by Sergei Mitrokhin at ELDR Council meeting, Rome, March 12, 2010

In my view, elimination of visa barriers between Russia and Europe should be examined and solved by politicians rather than bureaucrats. All we need is political will towards such strategic decision-making. Long-term advantages here both for Russia and Europe considerably overweight bureaucratic problems. And it will also allow us to solve such issues as, for example, work permits and registration for foreign citizens working in Russia, which should be part of the general agreement on elimination of visa barriers.

For the Russian citizens the freedom of movement within Europe is not reduced only to facilitation of their business, study or tourist trips (though this is also very important). This means their normal life within a single European civilization on the basis of mutually shared principles and values. This issue has become especially acute when visa barriers separated us from our close Eastern European neighbours. However, close interaction with them has always been very important when we speak about European trends in Russia.

Progovernmental United Russia is buying off votes in Tula

Statement by the party Chairman. March 12, 2010

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO is expressing its indignation with the situation when the United Russia party has been openly and blatantly violating the law at the Tula City Duma elections. Mass-scale and virtually open bribing of voters has been taking place in the city. A vote in favour of the United Russia party costs from 400 to 500 roubles at pre-term voting. About 10 per cent of the electorate have already voted at eight polling stations (No 419, 423, 424, 428 – 432).

The Altair cable television channel has been broadcasting a reel where those voting for the United Russia party are guaranteed free subscription to the channel.

Bribing of voters has been at polling station No 52 was video recorded and confirmed by the witnesses at the police station.

Such actions by the United Russia party on the threashold of the election day make us doubt the results of the overall voting in the city.

Opposition Sidelined Ahead of Test of Medvedev's Election Pledges

The Moscow Times, March 12, 2010

By Alexander Bratersky

Despite Medvedev’s appeal for smaller parties to participate, running in local elections has become even harder, said Vladislav Morozov, head of the Yabloko opposition party's branch in the Kaluga region, located 160 kilometers southwest of Moscow.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court banned the party from running for seats in the regional legislature, citing problems with signatures the party collected to be registered for the vote. Yabloko leader Sergei Mitrokhin said the violations were minor, Noviye Izvestia reported Wednesday.

Morozov is currently one of three Yabloko deputies in the regional legislature, which like most in Russia is dominated by United Russia.

Morozov complained that Kaluga Governor Anatoly Artamonov, a member of United Russia is actively campaigning for United Russia candidates and almost daily appears on local television to endorse party candidates.

“That reminds me of the times of Brezhnev,” he said, referring to Soviet elections when the Communists had a one-party monopoly.

European liberals to discuss a visa-free regime between Russia and the EU

Press Release. March 11, 2010

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin is going to get support to YABLOKO’s initiative on introduction of a visa-free regime between Russia and the EU from European liberals during the annual meeting of ELDR Council which will take place in Rome on March 12-13.

On the threashold of the meeting Russian Vedomosti newspaper published an article by Finnish Foreign Minister Mr.Alexander Stubb where he stated the adherence of Finland to the agreement between the RF and the EU on facilitation of the visa regime which came into force in summer 2007, as well as called the Russian authorities “to concretize and accelerate” the work in this direction. “Finland would welcome a visa-free regime between the EU and Russia and will spare no effort for hitting this goal,” Mr. Stubb stated. “I hope that Russian leaders will have enough insistence and political will so that to facilitate the necessary reforms,” he wrote.

Sergei Mitrokhin discussed the problem of introduction of the visa-free regime at the meeting with Ambassador of the Republic of Finland to the Russian Federation Matti Anttonen on February 17.

Officials offer apology to YABLOKO’s ecologist

Press Release. March 10, 2010

Officials from Administration of the Lomonosovsky District of the Leningrad region offered their apology to Alexander Senotrusov, deputy head of YABLOKO’s Green faction, for their intention to dismiss him from school where he had been working as a teacher and their suspension of functioning of a children’s club where he also worked. Persecutions against YABLOKO’s activist began after his interview to the NTV television channel.

On March 7, NTV released a piece devoted to the practices of unlawful construction of cottages in the natural reserves. Alexander Senotrusov told the journalists about unlawful construction at the Lebyazhiye village situated on Gulf of Finland shore.

After this the district administration began persecutions against the teacher. Local bureaucrats were going to dismiss Alexander Senotrusov as redundant and also cut off electricity in the children’s club where he worked.

Election troubles in Italy and Russia

ELDR Newsletter. March 4, 2010
If on one hand Yabloko, Russia, is still struggling against the Russian authorities because of its last non-registration in the regional election race in two key regions (please click here for more details), on the other Radicali Italiani, scored a good goal on the path of the rule of Law and protection of civil rights.
The Italian party, after a careful investigation, reported the numerous irregularities over the list of the centre- right candidates in Rome and Milan- two crucial strongholds of Berlusconi’s party - and seeing them finally erased from the competition.

READ MORE

ELDR Council meeting in Rome
Election troubles in Italy and Russia
Liberals discuss Eastern Partnership programme
ELDR launches Facebook Fan Page
ELDR deplores death of Zapata
ELDR NEWS is OUT!
Outward look for D66

Mass-scale buying of votes in favour of the United Russia and the Just Russia party observed at pre-term elections in Tula

Press Release. March 10, 2010

The Tula branch of YABLOKO recorded a mass-scale buying of votes in favour of the United Russia and the Just Russia party observed at pre-term elections to the Tula parliament. A vote cast for United Russia cost 500 roubles and a vote for the Just Russia party cost 100 roubles.

Today, on March 10 at about 11 a.m., YABLOKO’s election headquarters received a telephone call about a bribe of electorate at polling stations No 369 and 370 located in school No 52. Several cars were parked in the yard of one of the houses near the school. Unknown persons from the cars first put down the data of the voters and after their voting gave money to them.

Sergei Filatov, one of the leaders of YABLOKO’s election list and deputy of the Tula parliament, arrived to the polling station and discovered queues by the school building. He recorded all he saw (see the recording), interviewed the voter and also called the police.

An Objective View of the START-1 treaty

By Alexei Arbatov. March 11, 2010

START-1 does not affect the viability of Russia's ground-mobile missiles. Authoritative representatives of the RVSN (the former and new commanders, the former and new chiefs of the MoD 4th Central Research Institute, and others), and there are no grounds for trusting them less than to Colonel Belov, Generals Ivashov and Chervov, or Marshal Yazov, who are not even missilemen. The peacetime deployment area (125,000 square km) defined for each regiment is more than sufficient, and the missiles' concealment relies not on the acreage of the area but on the ramified structure of the roads and the strength of the bridges. In the pre-war period the operational deployment of missiles was in no way limited in terms of acreage. The key thing for the viability of our mobile launchers is camouflage in the field positions, where the Americans have never monitored anything and about which they know nothing. START-1 had nothing to do with this.

Portraits of Stalin and the Anniversary Victory Day

Statement by the International and Moscow Memorial Societies. Press Release. March 3, 2010

Officials from the Moscow Mayor’s Office have stated that portraits of Stalin are to be put up in the city for the 65th Anniversary of Victory Day. As is usual, it is not known by whom and at what level this decision was taken, but it is clear that the portraits will be produced at the expense of the taxpayers, who include those who lost their relatives through the fault of the dictator. But it is not a question of money, and nor is it that some of those invited to the celebrations will probably not wish to come to a city, decorated in such a dubious manner. The appearance of portraits of Stalin on Victory Day is an insult to the memory of the fallen...

If portraits of Stalin do indeed appear on the streets of Moscow, we shall do all within our power to ensure that, simultaneously, they will be accompanied by other placards, stands, and posters which tell of the tyrant’s crimes and of his true place in the history of the Great War for the Fatherland. We are convinced that hundreds of Muscovites – the children and grandchildren of the front-line soldiers, of those to whom Victory really belongs – will help us in this.

See also:

Portraits of Joseph Stalin have no place in the Victory Day celebrations. Statement by the Chairman of the YABLOKO party. February 18, 2010

Public organisations and political parties of Kaliningrad join in a coalition

Press Release. March 4, 2010

On March 3 during the second meeting of the Coordination Council leaders of political parties and public organisations and movements functioning in the Kaliningrad region signed a joint document on creation of a coalition targeted at stopping the monopoly of the progovernmental United Russia party in the Kaliningrad region.

A press-conference of the new coalition will take place in the Regional Duma on March 5 at 1 p.m. The participants will present the text of the agreement opened for all the parties and organisations sharing this platform and will also answer the journalists’ questions.

Grigory Yavlinsky visited the Astrakhan Region

Press Release. March 4, 2010

On March 3 member of YABLOKO’s Political Committee made a visit to the Astrakhan Region within the framework of election campaign to the Astrakhan City Duma.

Grigory Yavlinsky had a meeting with Governor Alexander Zhilkin. The Governor spoke in detail about implementation of the long-term strategy of socio-economic development of the region. “The executive authority of the region has been working in close contact with the Public Chamber of the region, trade unions, deputies and representatives of political parties,” Zhilkin noted. The Governor also showed his interest in further cooperation with YABLOKO.

The Governor also highly assessed the work of the representatives of YABLOKO in the Administration of the region.

Sergei Kovalyov has turned 80!

Congratulations from Sergei Mitrokhin. March 2, 2010

Dear Sergei Adamovich,

On behalf of all YABLOKO members I am sending you our heartiest congratulations on your birthday...

Conference “Women’s Movement in Russia: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” took place in YABLOKO’s Moscow office

Press Release. March 1, 2010

Conference “Women’s Movement in Russia: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” took place in YABLOKO’s Moscow office on February 26. 75 heads of leading women’s organisations and experts from Moscow, St.Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg and Perm participated in the conference. The conference was broadcasted life via YABLOKO’s web-site.

Galina Mikhalyova, moderator of the conference, Chair of the Gender faction of the YABLOKO party and Co-Chair of the Council for Consolidation of Women’s Movement in Russia stressed the difficulties in the development of women’s movement in the situation of increasing discrimination of women in Russia in all spheres of life and the need to consolidate efforts of public organisations, expert community, journalists and political forces for realization of the gender equality principles. YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin noted that YABLOKO is the only Russian party fighting for gender equality and proclaiming equality of rights and opportunities for men and women.

Non-registration of YABLOKO in the regional elections: a hypocrisy or a weakness of the presidential power?

Statement by the Bureau of the YABLOKO party. February 27, 2010

Right after President Medvedev’s statement made at the State Council meeting on the need to
facilitate political competition and democratization of the political system YABLOKO was cynically and unlawfully withdrawn from elections to the legislative assemblies of the Kaluga and Sverdlovsk regions, the regions where YABLOKO enjoyed considerable support from the electorate.

The signatures collected in support of YABLOKO’s election lists were announced “invalid” on
factitious unlawful grounds. The Chair of the electoral commission of the Sverdlovsk region publicly announced that signatures in support of YABLOKO would be recognised invalid already when YABLOKO had only been collecting these signatures. The electoral commission of the Kaluga region made all it could so that not to allow the leaders of the regional YABLOKO branch to participate in the audit of the signatures.

YABLOKO’s lodging complaints of such refusals in courts did not lead anywhere – the courts, as well as electoral commissions, refused to examine the evidence submitted by YABLOKO’s activists...

Liberals Give Police Tips on Reforming

The Moscow Times, February 26, 2010

By Alexander Bratersky

President Dmitry Medvedev's police reforms will turn into a sham if the public is excluded from the process and other law enforcement agencies are left untouched, opposition politicians and human rights activists said Thursday.

“It is impossible to reform the Interior Ministry without reforming the prosecutor's office and the justice system,” Yabloko party leader Sergei Mitrokhin said at a round table organized by the Moscow police to discuss the reforms with the public...

Liberal International. Newsletter. Issue 172

YABLOKO leader arrested following demonstration

On 23 February the leader of LI Full Member YABLOKO, Sergei Mitrokhin, and several other activists were arrested in Moscow outside the Ministry of Justice after staging a demonstration to call for the protection of military pensioners' rights. The participants of the picket held slogans “Scanty Military Pensions — a Disgrace to the State!” when about 15 OMON policemen arrested YABLOKO's activists and drove them to the local police station. The demonstration had not been coordinated with Moscow officials, as local authorities had declined YABLOKO the right to demonstrate on that date (the Day of Defenders of the Fatherland). Among the detainees was Anton Goretsky, General Major of the reserve. Commenting on the events Mitrokhin said “It is absurd that General Major of the reserve was arrested on the Day of Defenders of the Fatherland” . According to Mitrokhin, the local authorities were acting in the interests of the Ministry of Defence which did not want to see accusations in cynical attitude to the military on their holiday.

YABLOKO’s action in protection of Utrish and Baikal

Press Release. February 25, 2010

A rally in protection of the Utrish national reserve park and the Baikal Lake took place in the centre of Krasnodar on February 20. The rally was organised by YABLOKO’s activist Andrei Rudomakha.

After the rally the participants marched along the main street of the city and held a second rally at the end of the march.

About 300 – 350 people took part in the action.

YABLOKO’s leader supports the head of Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry

Press Release. February 24, 2010

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin welcomes today’s statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on introduction of a visa-free regime between Russia and EU.

“We hope that consultations conducted by experts will reach a solution in the nearest perspective and we shall be able to speak about definite time [for implementation of the visa-free regime] then. Russia is ready to transfer to a visa-free regime with Russia already tomorrow,” Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s Foreign Minister, told the journalists after his negotiations with Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the European Union.

YABLOKO’s leader and General Major arrested for picketing in protection of military pensioners’ rights

Press Release. February 23, 2010

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin and leader of the Moscow Region YABLOKO General Major Anton Goretsky were arrested for conducting a picket in protection of the military pensioners’ rights that had not been coordinated with the authorities. The local authorities declined YABLOKO’s application to conduct picketing by the Ministry of Defence on February 23 (the Day of Defenders of the Fatherland). However, the same action had been allowed on January 20.

The participants of the picket held slogans “Scanty Military Pensions – a Disgrace to the State!” when about 15 OMON policemen arrested YABLOKO’s activists and drove them to the local police station.

The Pensioners’ Party joins YABLOKO

Press Release. February 20, 2010

Today, on February 20, All-Russia congress of the Elder Generation public association formed on the basis of the former Pensioners’ Party took place in YABLOKO’s office in Moscow. The congress adopted a decision of a merger with YABLOKO via creation of the Russia’s Pensioners faction in YABLOKO.

Delegates from 24 Russia’s regions participated in the congress: 22 delegates voted for the merger and 2 abstained. The Elder Generation has branches in 32 Russia’s regions.

The leader of the Elder Generation Alexei Borschenko called YABLOKO “the only party which can at present protect the interests of Russia’s pensioners”. He also reiterated that pensioners constitute about one third of Russia’s population.

YABLOKO urges European liberals to work out a new EU strategy for Russia

ELDR Press Release, February 17, 2010

At a meeting of the European Liberal Democrats parliamentary group in Brussels on 3rd February, Sergey Mitrokhin, Leader of ELDR member party, YABLOKO, calledfor a strong collaboration amongst liberals in view of the introduction of a visa-free regime between Russia and the European Union.

Mitrokhin called on the European Union to “work out a strategy for interaction with Russia based on integration rather than confrontation”. Such integration is needed both for the EU and Russia in the field of the economy (which should not be reduced to oil and gas issues only), politics and national security (e.g., creation of a joint ABM), as well as a broad spectrum of other aspects, such as integration of Russia’s rich intellectual and labour potential into the European economy. “The European Union should initiate projects that would engage Russian society and elite into the European values and approaches”. According to Mitrokhin, such a strategy can ensure Russia’s steady movement towards the European way of development. Elimination of visa barriers and free communication between the citizens of the EU and Russia will enable Russian citizens to experience the achievements of Western democracies and observe how democratic institutions should really function and apply this in their own country...
READ MORE

Sergei Mitrokhin spoke at the rally for protection of Baikal

Press Release. February 13, 2010

About 700 people participated despite sever frosts in the rally for protection of Baikal in Irkutsk. Members of ecological organisations, members and supporters of YABLOKO, residents of Irkutsk and Baikalsk and CPRF members spoke against resuming of functioning of the Baikal Pulp Plant.

The rally organised by the ecological organisation The Baikal Wave and the Baikal movement was held under the slogans “To close the Baikal Pulp Plant!”, “To provide alternative jobs to the residents of Baikalsk!” and “Stop budget financing of oligarch Deripaska!”

Boris Vishnevsky receives Russia’s Golden Pen award

Press Release, February 13, 2010

One of the most brilliant Russia’s journalists and member of YABLOKO Boris Vishnevsky has become laureate of the highest award of the Union of Journalists of Russia. On February 12, 2010, journalist of Novaya Gazeta Boris Vishnevsky was announced to win Russia’s Golden Pen award. He has become the first journalist from St.Petersburg who was awarded the prize. Chairman of the Union of Journalists Vsevolod Bogdanov handed Vishnevsky the award for “a series of publications in the federal and regional papers on the building of the [scandalous] Gazprom’s skyscraper in St.Petersburg”.

The leader of Gelendzhik YABLOKO is forced to quit his job because of a rally

Press Release, February 12, 2010

On January 31, 2010, Gelendzhik YABLOKO conducted a meeting of protest against destruction of the Utrish relict lagoons, where the Presidential Property Management Department planned to build a “sports and recreation complex” and Administration of the Krasnodar Area – commercial buildings. Public protest action took place by the city Administration building. And already on February 5, Sergei Buldakov, leader of the local YABLOKO branch was informed that he was transferred to another work place located in 57 km from his current place. Alexander Umitbayaev, Director General of the Vodokanal municipal state company, where Buldakov worked informed Buldakov of this transfer.

Congratulations to Arseny Roginsky on the award!

February 12, 2010

On behalf of the YABLOKO party I am pleased to express our heartiest congratulations to Arseny Roginsky on the case of his receiving the Officer Cross award of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Arseny Roginsky is a renowned Russian human rights activist and historian studying the political terror period. His large contribution into protection of human rights is difficult to overestimate...

Arseny Roginsky will also deliver a lecture The Anatomy and Scopes of Stalin’s Terror within the framework of YABLOKO’s lectures.

The Embrace of Stalinism

By Arseny Roginsky, 16 December 2008

Why is Russia romanticising the memory of Stalinism, enquires Memorial's founder Arseny Roginsky, when its defining feature was the use of terror?
The memory of Stalinism in contemporary Russia raises problems which are painful and sensitive. There is a vast amount of pro-Stalinist literature on the bookstalls: fiction, journalism and pseudo-history. In sociological surveys, Stalin invariably features among the first three "most prominent figures of all times". In the new school history textbooks, Stalinist policy is interpreted in a spirit of justification.
There are also hundreds of crucial volumes of documents, scholarly articles and monographs on Stalinism. The achievements of these historians and archivists is unquestionable. But if they do have any influence on the mass consciousness, it is too weak. The means of disseminating the information have not been there, and nor in recent years has the political will. However, the deepest problem lies in the current state of our national historical memory of Stalinism.

Chair of Sverdlovsk Electoral Commission Mostovschikov to dismissal!

Statement by the YABLOKO party. February 5, 2010

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO expresses its categorical protest in connection with the actions of the Chair of the Sverdlovsk Electoral Commission V.D.Mostovschikov. Mostovschikov made multiple statements in the mass media on alleged violations of law in proposing the list of candidates to the election, the documents submitted to the electoral commission, including signatures submitted for enrollment in the race, prior to adoption of decisions by the electoral commission. We assess the actions of the Chair of the Sverdlovsk Electoral Commission as unlawful, biased and virtually representing propaganda in favour of other parties participation in the election, first of all progovernmental United Russia.

European liberals welcome Russia to the European Union

Press Release. February 3, 2010

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin called to the activisation of efforts in the introduction of a visa-free regime between Russia and the European Union at the meeting of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) taking place in Brussels today. ALDE is the third largest faction in the European Parliament holding the balance between the right and the left.

Sergei Mitrokhin told in his speech that “the European Union should work out a strategy for interaction with Russia based on integration rather than confrontation”. “The European Union should initiate the projects that would involve and initiate the Russian society and elite into the European values and approaches,” he said. According to Mitrokhin, such a strategy can ensure Russia’s movement along the European way of development...

According to Mitrokhin, the idea of abolishing visas between Russia and the EU was proposed as early as in 1995 by the YABLOKO faction in the Russian parliament. “We specially invited then Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Igor Ivanov and persuaded him that this initiative was not a fantasy,” Mitrokhin said. He also noted that in 2003 Ivanov shared these ideas with his Italian counterpart.

A number of MPs of the European Parliament supported the idea of development of a new European strategy in relations with Russia and agreed with Mitrokhin that the European Union had not developed such a strategy yet. Some MPs also supported the proposals on the earliest introduction of a visa-free regime and also stated that they would welcome Russia’s perspective joining the European Union...

Sergei Mitrokhin's speech. Video (Russian)

On elimination of visa regime between Russia and the EU

Statement by the Party Chairman. February 1, 2010

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO considers abolishing of the visa barrier separating the European Union and Russia be the most important and a very necessary step towards RF-EU integration.
The advantages that both the sides will get in solving this problem considerably overweight the bureaucratic problems that may seem insurmountable today.

We are certain that the issue of elimination the visa barrier between Russia and Europe should be examined and solved by politicians rather than bureaucrats. A political will towards strategic decision-making will enable us to find constructive ways out in such issues as, for example, the readmission problem.

We would like to specially stress that freedom of movement within Great Europe is not reduced for the Russian citizens to facilitation of their business, study or tourist trips (albeit this is also very important). This means their normal life within a single European civilization on the basis of shared principles. And this issue has become especially acute when a visa barrier separated us from our closest Eastern European neighbours as close interaction with them has always been and continue to be very important when we speak about European trends in Russia.

The authorities chose to support of oligarchs’ interests and reprisals against public organisations rather than protection of the Lake Baikal

Statement of the Bureau of the YABLOKO party, February 1, 2010

On January 28, 2010 the police of the Irkutsk region without any rulings of the court or public prosecutor blocked the work of the largest public organisation engaged in protection of the Lake Baikal – The Baikal Ecological Wave – confiscating their computers under the pretext of a check whether this organisation had been using licensed software. However, the representatives of the interior refused even to look at the certificates of the software submitted to them. The ecologists who tried to disobey confiscation of their computers were threatened with legal persecution in view of “attacking the police”.

The YABLOKO party expresses its resolute protest in view of such actions of the interior and considers them as a awkward attempt to shut down the wave of public discontent in view of the adoption by the Government of the RF of a resolution allowing to resume functioning of the Baikal Pulp Plant that have been polluting Baikal with its waste, as well as stored, buried and burnt hazardous waste on the banks of the lake. Such governmental decision was adopted in satisfaction of short-term interests of the owner of the plant – a definite tycoon, and contradicts Russia’s interests.

Governor Gromov motions a libel suit against Sergei Mitrokhin

Press Release, February 1, 2010

Governor of the Moscow Region Boris Gromov motioned a libel suit against YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin who had laid blame for a physical attack on Editor-in-Chief of Khimskinskaya Pravda oppositional paper Mikhail Beketov. The official claims compensation of RUR 500,000 (about USD 16,600) for the moral damage.

Sergei Mitrokhin stated that the party had grounds to think that “Administration of the Khimki city district and personally Head of Administration Strelchenko supported by Governor Gromov are behind this crime” during an action held on November 16, 2009 one year after the attack. A video record of Sergei Mitrokhin’s speech published at YABLOKO’s web-site was used by the Governor as an evidence of libel.

On November 13, 2008, Editor-in-Chief of Khimskinskaya Pravda oppositional paper Mikhail Beketov who had been opposing the construction of a paid highway Moscow – St.Petersburg, was found unconscious in the yard of his house. Doctors stated a severe head injury, multiple factions and injuries. Despite treatment Beketov remains a handicapped – he can not take care of himself and his speech functions have not restored. The action in support of Beketov was held under the slogans “Attack on Beketov Is an Attack on the Freedom of Speech” and “Attack on Beketov Is Political Terror”.

Social orphanage Zhizn (Life) in St.Petersburg needs your support!

February 2, 2010

Social orphanage Zhizn (Life) gives shelter and normal living conditions to orphans and social orphans. The orphanage was founded over 15 years ago and helped to about 600 children. The orphanage does not get any state aid and has been financed by private donations only. At present the orphanage has to move to a new place and its expenditures have abruptly grown. Zhizn would be grateful for any aid, as it is moving to empty flats. For bank transfers pls use the following banking details (it is important to indicate that it is charity). Even if you do not have a possibility to help us financially, you can help to the orphanage by spreading information about it.

See also:

Youth YABLOKO organisation of St.Petersburg for the protection of an orphanage. Press Release. September 8, 2009

YABLOKO’s leader blocked by police in the Rechnik cottage village, Moscow

Press Release, January 21, 2010

This morning YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin arrived at the site of the Rechnik village where bulldozers began pulling down the houses early in the morning.

Mitrokhin noted that YABLOKO had been deterring pulling down of the village for two years. According to Mitrokhin, the Court Bailiffs Service, the police and the local authorities resumed their efforts as soon as the term of YABLOKO’s deputies in the Moscow City Duma expired and YABLOKO was not able to get the mandates after fraudulent elections of October 11.

On arriving at the site Mitorkhin called Ferdauis Yusupov, head of the Moscow Court Bailiffs Service. Yusupov asked Mitrokhin to find out whether there were any court decisions or documents for pulling down the houses. However, when Mitrokhin tried to find out the legal basis for demolishing of the village he was quickly blocked by police. Policemen made a cordon around him and did not let him freely move in the territory of the village.

Attitude to human rights activists as a criterion of a law governed state

Statement of the YABLOKO party, January 19, 2010

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO states that the work of human rights activists and independent journalists in Russia have not become less dangerous for the year since the murder of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasiya Baburova.

It’s not only because the past year saw new attacks against human rights.

Nothing changed in the policies of the authorities and the situation with resentment of dissenting opinions promoted by the state mass media. State officials have been treating human rights activists as the enemies of the state, and their opinion coincides here with that of nationalists and fascists.

Such an attitude of the state to human rights activists demonstrates that at present Russia is not a law-governed state and, moreover, it does not try to become such.

Sergei Kovalev addresses the European Parliament after accepting the Sakharov Prize. Strasbourg, 16 December 2009

hro.org, December 18, 2009

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Memorial organisation, I would like to thank the European Parliament for its high accolade – the Sakharov Prize.

We at Memorial see this award as relating not only to our organisation. We take the view that, through us, the prize is being bestowed on the whole human rights community in Russia, and indeed more widely – on the entire section of Russian civil society sympathetic towards defenders of human rights. For forty years now – first in the Soviet Union and then in Russia – human rights defenders have been standing up for ‘European’, that is to say, universal values. This struggle has never been easy; in recent years it has become tragic, as it increasingly claims the lives of the best, the most active and the most fearless.

I am sure that, in awarding the Sakharov Prize to the Memorial organisation, the European Parliament had them in mind, first and foremost – our dead friends, comrades-in-arms, kindred spirits. This prize belongs by right to them. And the first name I should cite is that of Natalya Estemirova, human rights defender and fellow member of Memorial, murdered this summer in Chechnya.

I cannot go on without mentioning other names too: the lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalists Anna Politkovskaya and Anastasia Baburova, murdered in Moscow, ethnologist Nikolai Girenko shot in St Petersburg, Farid Babayev, murdered in Dagestan, and many others – sadly, it is a list that could go on for a long time. I ask you to honour the memory of these people by standing.

The murderers of Farid Babayev, the leader of the Dagestan branch of YABLOKO, can be released

Press Release, December 25, 2009

The relatives of leader of Dagestan YABLOKO and human rights activist Farid Babayev murdered in 2007, expressed their concern that the defendants had been ruining the case and that the killers would get freedom soon. The key witness of the plaintiffs who had seen the killer suddenly retracted his testimony...

YABLOKO’s Congress proposes an alternative

Press release, December 21, 2009

The second session of the 15th Congress of the YABLOKO party took place on December 19-20, 2009.

YABLOKO’s Chairman Sergei Mitrokhin opened the Congress with a report on organisational tasks of the party. He called the Congress to concentrate on the tasks of the coming elections to the State Duma focusing attention on the control over elections at all the stages. Also by-elections to the Bureau took place on the first Congress day...

Propaganda of Stalinism should be prohibited

Press release, December 21, 2009

“Propaganda of Stalinism should be prohibited,” such a statement was made by YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin in view of celebration of Joseph Stalin’s birthday conducted by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and a number of other political organisations.

“Today’s celebration [of the 130th anniversary] of the executioner of the Russian people and other nations of the former USSR represents a fest on the blood of the murdered and those tortured to death, a witless joy about the national catastrophe of 1920-1930s,” Mitrokhin said...

Deputy head of the Moscow branch of YABLOKO Eugeni Bunimovich becomes Ombudsman for Children in Moscow

Press release, December 21, 2009

Deputy head of the Moscow branch of YABLOKO Eugeni Bunimovich was appointed Ombudsman for Children in Moscow. The corresponding order was signed by Moscow Ombudsman Alexander Muzikansky.

“I find this post very important, as I as well as any other person realise what should be done here,” Bunimovich told to the Interfax news agency.

Bunimovich also noted that the post of Moscow Ombudsman for Children’s Rights is quite independent in the administration of the Moscow Ombudsman. Speaking about his plans Bunimovich told that “he is not the Plenary Meeting of the Communist Party of the USSR to make definite plans”, he “will first examine what problems and complaints people have and only after that will make plans.”

However, Bunimovich noted that he would pay special attention to children’s risk groups – orphans, neglected children and other, as well as legal education in the field of human rights for children and grown-ups. “Grown-ups often do not understand what is a violation of child’s rights or, for example, humiliation”, he noted.

Public Prosecutor to investigate the case of young YABLOKO’s activist expelled from the university

Press release, December 17, 2009

Chairman of the YABLOKO party Sergei Mitrokhin demanded that Anton Zhebrun, young YABLOKO activist expelled from the Omsk University, should be allowed to resume his studies in the university. Such a claim was sent by Sergei Mitrokhin to Public Prosecutor of the Omsk Region and the head of the Education Control Agency.

YABLOKO connects expelling of the student with his public activities, as he is one of the leaders of the Omsk Youth YABLOKO.

Russian human rights activists get Andrei Sakharov Prize

Kommersant-Online, December 16, 2009

A solemn ceremony of awarding the Sakharov Prize took place at the session of the European Parliament in Strasburg on December 16. The laureates of the prize were Russian human rights activists Ludmila Alexeyeva, Sergei Kovalyov and Oleg Orlov. Human rights activists called the European legislators “not to turn a deaf ear” to Russian lawlessness, and President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek expressed his hope that the murderers of Anna Politkovskaya and Natalya Estemirova will be hold for court.

European legislators welcomed the laureates with a storm of applause. Sergei Kovalyov in his speech expressed his gratitude to the European Parliament for a warm welcome, and asked the audience to hold a minute of silence in memory of Natalya Estemirova, human rights activist from the Memorial human rights centre, killed in Chechnya in July 2009. “Europe should not keep silence when human rights are violated in Russia,” Kovalyov said. President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek in his turn expressed his hope that the prize will encourage human rights activists to continue their fight against lawlessness and protect the values that “we have been promoting – freedom and democracy”.

Grigory Yavlinsky met with the students of the Evening Party University

Press Release, December 11, 2009

On December 9, 2009, the Evening University of the YABLOKO party organised a meeting for its students with Dr. Grigory Yavlinsky, the founder of the party and member of the Political Committee.

Answering the questions of YABLOKO’s members and advocates on the present economic, political and social situation in Russia, elections, Russia’s relations with other countries, etc. Grigory Yavlinsky noted that a qualitatively new situation developed in Russia after the elections of October 11. “No one believes words about democracy in the country any more after such elections.” Yavlinsky also noted that the policies of the Russian authorities were unsuccessful. “The authorities should realise that they do not have the strength to modernise Russia, this means that the opposition and other citizens get a chance,” Yavlinsky said.

Human rights activists Natalya Estemirova and Maksharip Aushev awarded medals post mortem

ombudsman.gov.ru, December 9, 2009

On December 8, 2009, the award ceremony of the Russian Ombudsman Medal “Hurry Up to Make Good Deeds” took place in Moscow. Human rights activists Natalya Estemirova and Maksharip Aushev awarded medals post mortem.

Both were members of the Expert Council with the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation. Natalya Estemirova had been investigating abdications of civilians, executions and tortures since the First Chechen War. She worked in the Memorial human rights centre. Maksharip Aushev actively engaged in the protection of human rights after his son and nephew abdicated in Grozny in 2007 had been released.

Court rules out that a thousand of additional votes stuffed in for progovernmental United Russia is not a satisfactory motive for recount of the votes

Press Release, December 9, 2009

On December 8, 2009, the Perovo District Court of Moscow declined YABLOKO’s suit on annulment of the results of the voting at two polling stations in the Veshnyaki area where 1.002 votes had been simply added to the progovernmental United Russia party. At the previous hearings the key witness of YABLOKO – a member of the electoral commission with a casting vote – made a statement that her signature in the official protocol had been faked. Signatures of several other members of the district electoral commission had been either missing or faked...

YABLOKO asked the court to satisfy its claim as the Moscow and the local commissions failed to determine the will of the electorate. However, the judge turned down YABLOKO’s claim. YABLOKO is going to appeal this decision in a superior court.

This has become already the second decision when Moscow local courts were turning down YABLOKO’s suits. On December 3, 2009, the Golovinsky District Court refused to satisfy YABLOKO’s claims in connection with two districts in the Levoberezhny area where United Russia was simply added votes taken from other parties. The next trial will take place in the Kuntsevsky District Court.

YABLOKO has filed claims on 14 polling stations in 10 Moscow districts (see the schedule of trials).

ELDR Congress 2009
19th-20th November, Barcelona, Catalonia

URGENCY RESOLUTION submitted by YABLOKO

The ELDR congress convening in Barcelona on November 19-20, 2009,

Observes that:
- The elections that took place in Russia on October 11, 2009, demonstrated an unprecedented scope of falsification of results of the voting and violations of the law confirmed by observers from all the political parties, except the ruling party, and mass media.

States that:
- ELDR will closely observe the development of the situation with lawsuits and complaints on election fraud.

Calls on:
The Russian authorities to:
- conduct a full inspection of candidates and parties’ complaints, and the evidence of election fraud published by the media, and take urgent remedy measures up to declaring the elections void;
- observe democratic standards and Russia’s obligations under its membership in the OSCE and in the Council of Europe on ensuring free and fair elections;
- ensure free and equal conditions for all political parties and candidates and maximum public control over elections and voting.

READ MORE

On political persecution of human rights organisations in Moscow

Statement of the YABLOKO party, November 13, 2009

The Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO expresses its concern in view of refusal of the Moscow authorities to prolong contracts on the office premises rent with the Moscow Helsinki Group and For the Human Rights Movement.

A strange coincidence of adopting such decisions on the two most renowned human rights organisations that rent offices in different places of the city is indicative of political motivation of the city heads.

Thus, a new technology has been used against civil society. Human rights organisations are simply ousted out of the offices in the streets under invented pretexts.

The 56th Congress of the Liberal International. Urgency resolution submitted by YABLOKO

The 56th Congress of the LIberal Internatioanl convening in Cairo...

Calls on:
The Russian authorities to:
- conduct a full inspection of the complaints of the actions (or negligence) of election commissions in all the Russian Federation subjects, all the evidence of fraud published by the mass media and punish all those guilty of election fraud, as well as take urgent remedy measures, if needed, declaring the elections void;
- observe Russia’s obligations under its membership in the OSCE and in the Council of
Europe on ensuring free and fair elections in the country;
- form new electoral commissions ensuring that representatives from all of Russia's political parties should have equal participation to cast a vote;
- ensure free and equal conditions for all the political parties and candidates, as well as maximum public control over elections and voting.

read more

Aggressive nationalism endangers Russia

Statement by the Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO, November 4, 2009

The 4th of November is officially announced the Day of National Unity in Russia. However, it is this day when the streets of Russian cities turn into arena for skin-heads, Nazis and racists provoking ethnic hatred. “Russian Marches” conducted on permission of local authorities and multiple unsanctioned nationalists’ actions will take place in 16 Russian cities.

According to the analytical centre SOVA, 50 people died and 280 people were wounded due to xenophobia since January 2009.

The YABLOKO party states that provoking of ethnic hatred, as well as assistance in the organisation of nationalists’ actions, is prone of very serious consequences, including shedding of blood and disintegration of the country.

Five parties should have got places in the Moscow City Duma! The real election results.

Novaya Gazeta, October 24, 2009

Here comes information from the polling stations where Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin and [Mayor of Moscow] Yuri Luzhkov voted:

United Russia — 36,7%; CPRF —28,4%; YABLOKO — 14,9%; Just Russia — 9,2%; LDPR — 6%

What the electoral commissions shall do now?! Internet is full of gags and jokes and this is the evidence of the mental health of the nation. However, jokes end sooner of later. In the end Russia’s future is in stake. The stage of a saving sense of humour will end in a year or two. Then the people will either oust the bosses who lost their honour or vise versa this team will drive the people to a “stall”. The latter is more likely: such people never give up power voluntary, moreover with such a load of unlawful acts on their back...

Moscow’s Carousel Elections

The Moscow Times, October 23, 2009

By Sergei Mitrokhin
Sergei Mitrokhin, who served as a State Duma deputy from 1994 to 2003 and a Moscow City Duma deputy from 2005 to 2009, is chairman of the Yabloko party.

The level of falsifications in the Oct. 11 Moscow City Duma elections was unprecedented in modern Russian history. Officials did everything in their power to prevent opposition candidates from registering, and Yabloko was obstructed by local authorities and siloviki structures as early on as the signature collection stage.

On Oct. 10, the eve of the elections, almost every electoral district had run out of ballots. According to Yabloko representatives, the Strogino election committee handed out a total of only 149 ballots for the entire district. Instead, we witnessed the so-called “carousel” system ­ busloads of passengers who travel from district to district to cast their votes repeatedly.

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Electoral Commission steals votes of YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin and his family

Press release, October 16, 2009

The protocol of voting of local electoral commission No 192 of Khamovniki district, Moscow, showed that the electorate did not give a single vote for YABLOKO at the polling station where Sergei Mitrokhin and his family voted. Moreover, the commission reported on the absence of any invalid or spoilt bulletins.

The electoral commission of the polling station gave the breakdown of the total of 1,020 bulletins as follows: United Russia obtained 904 votes, CPRF – 87 votes and Just Russia – 29 votes. In accordance with the protocol, LDPR, Patriots of Russia and YABLOKO did not get a single vote (see a scanned copy of the protocol at our web-site). These data were also registered at the Moscow Electoral Commission web-site.

The signed copy of the protocol which was made available to YABLOKO was printed specially for electronic polling boxes, however, Sergei Mitrokhin and his family put their ballots into a wooden box (see the photograph at our web-site).

“Maybe the heads of this electoral commission intend to show that I do not exist either as a voter or as a citizen,” Sergei Mitrokhin commented on the situation. “I have to disappoint them, YABLOKO does exist and moreover is able to turn to the law-enforcement bodies for punishment of the criminals faking the elections,” he said.

Sergei Mitrokhin also noted that YABLOKO received 18% at the polling station where Prime Minister Vladimir Putin voted. “Naturally, no one dared to falsify anything there, however, these two Moscow districts hardly differ as of the structure of their electorate,” Mitrokhin added.

An illustration of election fraud (Moscow City Duma election, October 11, 2009)

From the Live Journal of Igor Yakovlev, Press Secretary of the YABLOKO party, October 12, 2009

Electoral district No 1702, Danilovsky district, Moscow,

All who has seen election campaigns of the recent years mark an unbelievable scope of fraud at yesterday’s election (Moscow City Duma election on October 11, 2009).

Here comes only one example of election fraud...

United Russia simply “got” 550 additional votes from nowhere. 550 is a beautiful figure.

See the screenshots of the protocols below. The first screenshot represents the protocol of the Moscow Electoral Commission.

The second screenshot is the protocol obtained by the observer.


Violations at the Moscow City Duma elections

Press Release, October 12, 2009

The Moscow Duma elections saw multiple violations despite the reports of the Moscow Electoral Commission that “no grave violations” were registered during this election.

Thus, on the threashold of the election day, the Moscow Electoral Commission had suddenly “run out of absentee voting certificates”. This situation was observed in Otradnoye, Basmanniy, Beskudnikovo, Strogino, Northern Tushino.

On the election day, October 11, observers from the YABLOKO party were not allowed to implement their function. Thus, YABLOKO’s activist Semyon Burd was deported from voting station No 118 (Presnya) by force. The local electoral commission gave Burd its decision prohibiting him to observe the counting of votes. Such a decision was adopted in violation of the Election Code. In Meschansky district YABLOKO’s observers were deported from the voting station under a pretext that the stamps on their documents did not overlap Sergei Mitrokhin’s signature.

An hour before expiration of the time of voting (from 7 to 8 p.m.)YABLOKO received a storm of telephone calls from the worried voters. The voters coming to the voting stations between 7 and 8p.m. found out that “someone” had already voted on their behalf.

Also coaches full of “voters” (the so-called merry-go-round) were commuting from one electoral district to another. The same “passengers” of such coachers voted at several districts several times. Such coaches were observed at Begovaya, Mariyna Roscha, Northern Medvedkovo, Arbat, Presnya and some other districts...

YABLOKO’s Political Committee determined the tasks of the responsible opposition in modern Russia

Press-Release, September 26, 2009

A meeting of YABLOKO’s Political Committee took place on September 26. The Committee developed the goals of the party in modern Russia.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin indicated in his report to the Committee that a system of bureaucratic cronyism developed in modern Russia. Its goal is to maintain in power one and the same ruling group for an unlimited period of time.

“Supporting a number of President Medvedev’s recent statements on the need of modernisation in Russia YABLOKO states that their realisation is incompatible with the real goals of this system,” Mitrokhin said.

Mitrokhin expressed his certainty that this system “can lead Russia to stagnation reminiscent of the stagnation of the Brezhnev period in the USSR, when the political elite lost the chance to conduct modernisation of the USSR, thus dooming it to disintegration”.

According to Mitrokhin, the task of the opposition is to offer an alternative to the political course of the country present leaders, such as building of a modern state based on democratic institutes and procedures.

 

 

 

 

For Your Interest!

Is Modernisation in Russia Possible? Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky and Boris Titov by Yury Pronko, "The Real Time" programme, Radio Finam, May 12, 2010

Grigory Yavlinsky's interview to Vladimir Pozner. The First Channel, programme "Pozner", April 20, 2010 (video and transcript)

Overcoming the Totalitarian Past: Foreign Experience and Russian Problems by Galina Mikhaleva. Research Centre for the East European Studies, Bremen, February 2010.

Grigory Yavlinsky: Vote for the people you know, people you can turn for help. Grigory Yavlinsky’s interview to the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, October 8, 2009

Grigory Yavlinsky: no discords in the tandem. Grigory Yavlinsky’s interview to the Radio Liberty
www.svobodanews.ru
September 22, 2009

A Credit for Half a Century. Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky by Natalia Bekhtereva, Radio Russia, June 15, 2009

Sergei Mitrokhin's Speech at the meeting with US Preseident Barack Obama. Key Notes, Moscow, July 7, 2009

Mitrokhin proposed a visa-free regime between Russia and EU at the European liberal leaders meeting
June 18, 2009

Demodernization
by Grigory Yavlinsky

Another Look into Putin's Soul
by Andrei Piontkovsky

European Union chooses Grigory Yavlinsky!
Your vote counts!

Reforms that corrupted Russia
By Grigory Yavlinsky, Financial Times (UK), September 3, 2003

Grigory Yavlinsky: "It is impossible to create a real opposition in Russia today."
Moskovsky Komsomolets, September 2, 2003

Alexei Arbatov: What Should We Do About Chechnya?
Interview with Alexei Arbatov by Mikhail Falaleev
Komsomolskaya Pravda, November 9, 2002

Grigory Yavlinsky: Our State Does Not Need People
Novaya Gazeta,
No. 54, July 29, 2002

Grigory Yavlinsky: The Door to Europe is in Washington
Obschaya Gazeta, May 16, 2002

Grigory Yavlinsky's speech.
March 11, 2002

Grigory Yavlinsky's Lecture at the Nobel Institute
Oslo, May 30, 2000

For Your Importance!

 

Yabloko: Liberals in Russia

By Alexander Shishlov, July 6, 2009

Position on Some Important Strategic Issues of Russian-American Relations

Moscow, July 7, 2009

Nuclear Umbrellas and the Need for Understanding: IC Interview With Ambassador Lukin
September 25, 1997

Would the West’s Billions Pay Off?
Los Angeles Times
By Grigory Yavlinsky and Graham Allison
June 3, 1991

was!

 

On the need of further steps for creation of a joint Russian-European ABM system. Statement by Chairman of the Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO, September 21, 2009

YABLOKO's leader proposes a joint Russia-US BMD project at the meeting with Barack Obama. July 7, 2009.

Mitrokhin proposed a visa-free regime between Russia and EU at the European liberal leaders meeting. June 18, 2009.

YABLOKO’s Leaders Meet with President of Russia. June 11, 2009

OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY THE EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL SESSION

July 3, 2009

RESOLUTION ON DIVIDED EUROPE REUNITED: PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES IN THE OSCE REGION IN THE 21st CENTURY.

In the memory of Yuri Schekochikhin

In the memory of Farid Babayev


In the memory of Larissa Yudina


West must aid Soviet reform says Yavlinsky

Financial Times
By Leyla Boulton in Moscow
May 21, 1991

Soviet Economists Visit Harvard Profs. Team of Seven Seek Western Advice to Draft Plan to Restructure Economy
The Harvard Crimson
By Lan N. Nguyen
May 22, 1991

Joint Plan Links Western Aid with Soviet Economic Reforms
Harvard University Gazette
May 24, 1991

Author!

 

Enemy Around - A view on the present conspiracy theory by Boris Vishnevsky

Fontanka.ru, June 30, 2009

Alexej Melnikow, Mitglied im Dumaausschu fur Budget und Steuern

Die Publikationen auf servere den "Apfel" auf Deutsch

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Ratings and votes

VTsIOM
(in Russian)

History

10 year anniversary of the "500 Days" Programme

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