Press Release, 26.05.2026

Photo: Nikolai Rybakov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

The defence team of Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov has filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of Russia demanding that the rulings of lower courts be overturned in the case of “displaying extremist symbols and paraphernalia”, a case arising from a post in which Rybakov expressed condolences to the family of Alexei Navalny, who died in prison. The party leader was previously fined 1,500 roubles and barred from standing in elections for one year as a result of that publication.

In the complaint, the defence argues that the courts’ rulings in Nikolai Rybakov’s case were issued in material violation of legal norms, which affected the outcome of the proceedings. Among the principal violations, Rybakov’s lawyer Boris Gruzd singles out the overly broad interpretation of the law – one under which a law-abiding and reasonable person could not have foreseen that publishing the content in question might expose them to punishment.

In earlier written submissions to the court, Nikolai Rybakov stated that none of the official registries maintained by the Russian Ministry of Justice and Rosfinmonitoring contained any indication that a photograph of the opposition politician constituted “paraphernalia” of extremist organisations or was prohibited from publication. He further noted that the photograph did not appear in the Federal List of Extremist Materials either.

The complaint also draws attention to a number of additional violations by the lower courts: disregard for the presumption of innocence, failure to consider Rybakov’s alibi, wrongful attribution of acts not cited in the original protocol, and the use of passages of reasoning copied from a different case and bearing a different name, among other irregularities.

“For some reason, certain people in power are convinced that by removing from elections politicians who stand for a peaceful future for Russia, they can change the public mood. But there are dozens of millions of people who support our position, and nothing can be done about that. We will not renounce our convictions and principles. And whatever happens, we will continue to fight for the country’s future — for peace and freedom, and for a life without fear,” Rybakov said.

By way of background: on 4 December 2025, the Vyborgsky District Court of St. Petersburg found Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov guilty of an administrative offence under Article 20.3, Part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation and fined him 1,500 roubles. This fine also bars the politician from standing in the forthcoming elections. The ruling was subsequently upheld by judges of the St. Petersburg City Court and the Third Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction.

It should be also noted that seven other Yabloko members had previously been fined under the provision on “displaying extremist symbols”. The party regards this pressure as nothing other than the execution of a political order to remove the party’s leaders from the forthcoming federal and regional elections of 2026.