| The procurator's office for the Tverskoi Raion in Moscow
is questioning members of Grigorii
Yavlinskii's Yabloko party in connection with a criminal case, "Kommersant-Daily"
reported on 18 September. An investigator told the daily that a Yabloko
member allegedly cursed at a police officer during a 16 September protest
outside the Prosecutor-General's Office (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
17 September 2004). Although the case comes under Article 319 of the Criminal
Code (insulting an official), Yabloko activists claim the investigation
is politically motivated. They deny that anyone insulted the police during
the protest. Furthermore, they claim investigators are seeking information
unrelated to any alleged insult: the names of those who attended, the slogans
they used, and the means by which they informed the media about the place
and time of the protest. "Kommersant-Daily" noted that prosecutors
are not questioning members of the Communist Party, which also participated
in the protest. An investigator told the daily that "the communists
did not insult anyone."
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Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, September 21, 2004
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