Congress Resolution No. 409, published on 14.05.2021

To: The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation

The Russian Union of Rectors

Heads of institutions of higher education of the Russian Federation

Address

Persecution of university students for their civic and political activity has become more frequent in Russia.

Those who openly express their civil and political stance with is undesirable for to the authorities, take part in protests, and speak out in defence of political prisoners, are expelled from universities under far-fetched pretexts, depriving them of the opportunity to get a higher education.

Such cases have been reported in many cities of our country. For example, in Astrakhan, three students were expelled from the university on the basis of information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs about their participation in protest actions. In St. Petersburg, a student who had held a picket outside the [pro-government’s] United Russia [party] office in defence of political prisoner Azat Miftakhov was expelled from St. Petersburg State University under the pretext of an allegedly unsatisfactory report on her internship. In Moscow, politically motivated expulsion of students from the Russian State Social University was recorded.

We consider it unacceptable to persecute students for openly political reasons and regard it as a gross violation of their constitutional rights to education and freedom of assembly.

We demand to end this persecution, reinstate all students expelled for their civic and political activities, and take to responsibility all those responsible for this persecution.

Nikolai Rybakov,

Yabloko Chairman

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