Press Release, 26.01.2021

Photo: The police banned peaceful protesters from entering the Hyde Park in Pskov on January 23, 2021 / Photo by Alexei Navalny’s headquarters in Pskov

On the morning of January 26, the police reclassified the events of Pskov on January 23, which they charge Lev Shlosberg, member of the Yabloko party Federal Political Committee and MP of the Pskov Regional Assembly from Yabloko, with under Article 20.2 Part 2 (organisation of a public event without a permission of the authorities).

Earlier, administrative proceedings were instituted against the Lev Shlosberg under Article 20.2 Part 5 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (“violation by a participant of a public event of the established procedure for holding a rally, meeting, demonstration, procession or picketing”). There was no evidence in the case, so no protocol was drawn up, the police decided to conduct an administrative investigation.

On January 23,  the largest political protest rally took place in Pskov since December 2011, with over a thousand people took part in it. Protesters gathered around the monument to Princess Olga in October Square and then walked through the city streets.

A large number of law enforcement officers accompanied the demonstration, and several times blocked the pedestrian zones of the streets, but the protesters did not go out into the road and did not violate traffic rules.

In the Summer Garden, one of the protesters was beaten by police officers.

A part of the protesters reached an open area near the Pskova River, the so-called Hyde Park, the only place in Pskov where residents can gather without notifying the authorities or asking a permission for it. But the police did not let people there either, blocking all the slopes to the site.

Lev Shlosberg, MP of the Pskov Regional Assembly and Chairman of the Pskov branch of Yabloko, appealed to the senior police officer with the rank of colonel and asked him to let the citizens into the territory of the Hyde Park. The officer, who did not introduce himself, said that he had heard the deputy’s opinion, but nevertheless would not allow people into the Hyde Park.

A quarter of an hour later, Lev Schlosberg was detained by police officers near Hyde Park, at the corner of Gogol and Vorovsky Streets. The police officers did not introduce themselves, did not explain the reasons for the detention.

The police report on the detention of Lev Shlosberg states that he was detained in Oktyabrsky Prospekt, which is not true as he was detained in the Hyde Park area. The same reports were drawn up on other detainees.

The politician and 17 other detainees were taken to the police station, where he gave explanations to the police and then he was released.

In the first minutes after the start of the public action, Nikolai Kuzmin, a deputy of the Zavelichinsky district and a member of the Regional Council of the Pskov Yabloko, was also detained. After several hours of being in the police station, he was released without any police protocol or a case filed against him.

Nikolai Kuzmin wrote a statement to the police department on the fact of his arrest, in which he indicated that during the arrest, “the officers in black uniforms and helmets did not explain the reasons for the arrest, neither did they show their IDs,” and demanded to explain the reasons for the arrest and bring the perpetrators to justice…

The police filed a case of an administrative violation against Vladimir Zhilinsky, head of the Pskov branch of Golos (an NGO engaged in elections monitoring and observation) and also a member of the Regional Council of Pskov Yabloko, under Article 20.2 Part 2 for organising or holding a public event without filing, in accordance with the established procedure, a notification of the holding of a public event.

According to media reports, all organisers of the rally were detained prior to its start.

In Pskov, the police detained more than 50 people and took them to three police departments.

In Velikiye Luki, where a protest action of up to 100 people was also held, according to various sources, from 5 to 20 people were detained.

However, there is no official information on the number of those detained in Velikiye Luki.

As of the morning of January 25, according to OVD-info NGO, at least 3,711 people were detained throughout Russia at rallies in support of Alexei Navalny in more than 120 cities, detentions have been still going on. For example, only 12 detainees were registered for Pskov, while the real number of the detained in the city is four times higher.

Over the past weekend the courts in Russia have already made 82 decisions on the appointment of administrative arrests, 52 on fines, five on compulsory work, two cases were returned to the police. At least 15 criminal cases were initiated.

It should be also noted that on the eve of the protest rallies, Yabloko members were arrested in Arkhangelsk and Yakutsk.