Press Release, 19.02.2021

Photo: Maxim Petlin / Photo from personal page of Maxim Petlin in Facebook

The Sverdlovsk region branch of Yabloko filed an administrative lawsuit against the Ministry of Public Security of the Sverdlovsk Region, asking to declare unlawful the refusal of the authorities to give a permission to the procession and rally in memory of Boris Nemtsov scheduled for 27 February.

The Sverdlovsk region branch of Yabloko believes that the ban on holding public events is politically motivated and violates the constitutional rights of citizens. The regional branch of the party notes that the memorial actions will meet all the safety standards: social distance will be observed, and participants of the action will get masks.

“We consider the refusal of the Ministry to be unlawful, since our event will be held in the open air, there are no direct bans on such events, moreover, the decree of the Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region allows some public events to be held indoors, and kindergartens, schools and universities are operating”, Maxim Petlin, member of the Party Bureau and Chairman of the Sverdlovsk region branch of Yabloko, said.

“We are making every possible effort to legally honour the memory of the politician Boris Nemtsov who was killed near the Kremlin and draw attention to the problem of political assassinations in modern Russia,” the leader of the Sverdlovsk Yabloko added.

Earlier, the Chelyabinsk  branch of Yabloko filed a lawsuit in court demanding to give a permission for the memory action, and the Novgorod branch of the party expressed a similar intention.

It should be noted that Yabloko organises actions in memory of  Boris Nemtsov in 22 cities.