Press Release, 13.12.2015

Two activists of the YABLOKO party detained yesterday in Pushkin Square during the action in defense of the Constitution, remain in the Meshchansky police department. Police arrested them for 48 hours before the trial, which will be held tomorrow, on 14 December. The camera does not have any mattresses to sleep on.

Stanislav Belyansky and Grigory Semyonov, together with other YABLOKO members and civil activists stood in pickets in Pushkin Square on the Constitution Day. Participants of the action were holding posters with the slogan resembling that of Soviet human rights activists who came on this very square 50 years ago, on December 5, 1965: “Respect Our Constitution!” Activists replaced each other, passing the poster from hand to hand. Thus, the action could not be considered as a mass action it was one-person picketing which does not require any permissions from the authorities.

Police without explanation shoved activists in the police wagon. Already in the police office, they were charged with disobeying lawful orders of a police officer (Article 19.3 of the Administrative Violations Code) envisaging an administrative arrest for up to 15 days.

Gregory Semenov is a municipal deputy (district Cheryomushki, Moscow), so he can not be brought to administrative responsibility without prosecutor’s warrants. However, according to Boris Mamatov, the lawyer of the detained, in any case, the police had no right to hold the activists for 48 hours in the police department. He regards this as “unlawful confinement”, and he has already submitted a complaint to the police department and the prosecutor’s office.

Grigory Semenov and Stanislav Belyansky are kept together in the cell in the Meshchansky police department. The police did not give them any mattresses. “We don’t have enough mattresses for all,” policemen explained their lawyer. Food to the detainees was brought by their colleagues.

YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin was also arrested yesterday in Pushkin Square. He and four other activists voluntarily left the Tverskoye police department after six hours from their arrest. However, later Mitrokhin was forced to return, as the police put forward the following condition: Mitrokhin’s advisor Anton Antonov-Ovseyenko would be released in exchange for Mitrokhin’s sighing a subpoena to come to court on Monday.