Press Release, 13.12.2022

Photo: Svetlana Vasilkova / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Svetlana Vasilkova, Deputy Chairman of the Pskov Yabloko, filed an application with the Opochetsky District Court to recognise the decision of the Assembly of Deputies of the Pustoshkinsky District of 24 November to remove her from her post of head of the district as illegal. Such a decision was taken by the deputies despite the fact that the State Finance Committee of the Pskov Region recognised the district headed by Vasilkova one of the best in the region in 2021 and allotted additional funding in the form of an additional incentive payment which was used for preparation for the heating season.

Vasilkova regards the decisions on an unsatisfactory assessment of her performance by the deputies as far-fetched and having nothing to do with reality. When making a decision, the deputies violated the procedure determined by federal law. Svetlana Vasilkova did not go into the personal motives of the actions of the deputies from the United Russia party, since they have no legal significance.

The administrative defendants are the Assembly of Deputies of the Pustoshkinsky district, as well as the acting head of the district Vera Shilova, and the Governor of the Pskov region Mikhail Vedernikov, who exceeded his proxies and stated in a letter to deputies that he supported the draft decision to remove the Yabloko head of the district.

Svetlana Vasilkova considers all these actions of officials to be public informational and administrative pressure on any court in the Pskov region, since these opinions form a biased attitude not only among ordinary readers and listeners, but also among the judges of the Pskov region. In such a situation, Svetlana Vasilkova considers it necessary to refer the case to a court in another region of Russia.

The application was submitted to the court. A court date has not yet been set.