Press Release, 5.07.2023

Photo: Entrance to the Pskov Yabloko office / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

On 5 July, police came to the office of the Yabloko branch in Pskov. Policemen presented a decision to initiate administrative proceedings under Article 13.15 Part 2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation “Abuse of freedom of the mass media”.

According to law enforcement officers, Lev Shlosberg mentioned an organisation recognized as terrorist in a negative context during one of the streams on the Grazhdanin TV channel, however did not indicate its terrorist status as required by the law.

The sanction of the article in case of recognition of an administrative offense by the court is a fine from 2,000 to 2.500 roubles. Despite this, the police decided to conduct an “inspection” at the office of the Pskov “Yabloko” with complete seizure of all the office equipment. The police also demanded that employees and activists who were in the office hand over their personal laptops and phones, despite the fact that the owners claimed that these were their personal property.

At the time of the search, Artur Gaiduk, MP of the Pskov Regional Assembly from Yabloko and Chairman of the Pskov Yabloko, was holding a meeting in the office to prepare for the session and work with citizens’ appeals. The Chairman of the regional branch believes that the actions of the police are connected with the upcoming elections in the Pskov region.

On 5 March, 2022, the police seized all the equipment in the office of the Pskov Yabloko in exactly the same way, initiating administrative proceedings on the denunciation of a citizen who knowingly reported false information to the police. The equipment was returned to Yabloko only 32 days later.

“Inspection of the premises” lasted over three hours.

The actions of the police are illegal and will be appealed as prescribed by law. Legal support for employees of the Pskov Yabloko is provided by lawyer Vladimir Danilov.