Hands off the Artdocfest film festival
Statement by Yabloko Chairman, 9.04.2021
These days, the 14th International Documentary Film Festival Artdocfest is being held in different cities of Russia.
This year, the organisers of the festival faced pressure from law enforcement and regulatory agencies, refusal of cinemas to provide venues, provocations of odious nationalist groups and, finally, direct threats of physical violence, which ultimately led to the cancellation of screenings and the transfer of events online.
One can not fail to see a planned aggressive campaign behind all this, aimed at destroying the festival, or ousting it from the territory of our country.
The Yabloko party considers the actions aimed at disrupting this landmark event for Russian culture and public life be unacceptable and provocative, demands from the authorities to end the campaign against the festival, and from the General Public Prosecutor’s Office to give assessment to what is happening.
The Yabloko party expresses its comprehensive support for Artdocfest, considers holding the festival to be fundamentally important for Russian society and is ready to provide any political and organisational assistance.
Nikolai Rybakov,
Yabloko Chairman
Posted: April 9th, 2021 under Freedom of Speech, Human Rights.