Press Release, 14.06.2017

Today, on 14 June, Sergei Mitrokhin, leader of the Moscow branch of YABLOKO and head of the Moscow Rescue Committee, and ten other participants of the action against the demolition of five-story buildings in Moscow have been detained by the State Duma. The protest was timed to consideration by the State Duma of the bill on “renovation” in the third reading. According to Mitrokhin, the detention was unlawful: he stood in a one-person picket, while the other participants of the action did not hold any posters in their hands. Sergei Mitrokhin stressed that protest actions against the destructive project of the Moscow authorities would go on.

Photo: Sergei Mitrokhin and the detained in the police station

Several hundreds of Muscovites came to the action where they signed a petition against the “renovation” project and for the resignation of Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. However, law enforcement officers intervened and detained the most active participants together with Sergei Mitrokhin, who was standing in a one-person picket. The detainees were taken to the Tverskoe police station adjacent to the upper chamber of the parliament – the Federation Council. “That [the Federation Council] will be the place of our next action,” Sergei Mitrokhin wrote on Twitter, publishing a photo of the Federation Council.

According to Mitrokhin, despite the intervention of the police, the action was successful, “The picket did take place and was held with the big support of Muscovites protesting against the project which is destructive for the capital and harmful for Moscow residents. Certainly, this is not our last action. We will definitely protest by the Federation Council when the bill is being considered there and by the Presidential Administration building when the law is sent to Putin for signature,” Mitrokhin said.

Anton Antonov-Ovseyenko, head of the Public Reception Office of the Moscow branch of YABLOKO, was detained together with Mitrokhin and informed RBC that the detention took place without explaining the reasons: “We are now in the police van, we are being driven to the Tverskoe police station. This time we were simply pulled out and put in a police van, we were not explained why they detained us,” Antonov-Ovseyenko said.

This was already the third large action against the demolition of Moscow five-storey housing taking place by the State Duma. On 6 June, Moscow residents who disagree with the project of “renovation” launched by the Moscow authorities, came to support YABLOKO Chair Emilia Slabunova, as well as Sergei Mitrokhin and municipal deputy of the Gagarinsky district of Moscow Elena Rusakova. However, the Duma refused to allowed YABLOKO representatives to the public hearings held in the parliament. The public hearings preceded consideration of the “renovation” bill in the second reading (the bill was adopted), however, the MPs decided to avoid hard-hitting questions. As a result, all those who gathered by the Duma marched through the city centre with the slogans demanding resignation of the Moscow Mayor. On 9 June, the day of consideration of the bill in the second reading, another major protest took place, when Sergei Mitrokhin and Anton Antonov-Ovseyenko were detained twice. The police drew up protocols on violation of the order of the rally on them.

Earlier, on May 14 and 28, large-scale permitted actions against the “renovation” project took place in Moscow. The actions were also supported by YABLOKO.