Press Release, 22.06.2022

Photo: Denis Mokrishin / Photo from social networks

The Yabloko branch in Tatarstan forwarded an inquiry to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Tatarstan asking to conduct a check on the case of Denis Mokrushin, a student of Kazan State Architecture and Development University, who had been facing pressure from the university administration for his political stance.

The university administration refused to recognise his successful passing of an exam. Mokrushin told about this on his pages in social networks. Earlier the university administration had threatened to expel him for his participation in a picket and his anti-war stance.

Yabloko stressed in its inquiry that the administration’s refusal to recognise a successfully passed examination demonstrated that the university would like to illegally expel the student for his political stance.

Yabloko’s letter also ran that, according to the federal law “On Education”, students have the right to participate in rallies, pickets and other mass events. In addition, the law does not envisage expelling of a student in connection with criminal or administrative prosecution of this student.

Yabloko activists indicated that political activities of a student could not serve as either an official or a lawful reason for expelling a student, therefore, the administration of the university tried to formally expel Mokrushin for his allegedly “failed” exam.

It should be also noted that Denis Mokrushin was Yabloko observer at the State Duma elections in 2021.