Press Release, 11.08.2022

Photo: A rally in Irkutsk, 2020 / Photo from social media

The Irkutsk branch of Yabloko, together with civil activists, filed a lawsuit against the city administration of Irkutsk, one of the largest cities in Siberia. The lawsuit was filed with the Kirovsky District Court of Irkutsk for administration’s refusal to give a permission for the holding of a rally on 20 August. This was announced by the representative of the Irkutsk Yabloko Grigory Gribenko. Yabloko members and civil activists wanted to speak out against the so-called “censorship articles” introduced to the administrative and criminal codes of Russia for “discrediting the army” and “fakes about the army”. The administration of Irkutsk refused to give their permission for the rally, referring to COVID restrictions.

The plaintiffs note that the Constitutional Court, in its Resolution 49-P of December 25, 2020, indicates that introduction by the regional authorities of restrictions for citizens in connection with COVID is legal provided a number of conditions are met: for example, exceptions to established restrictions should not be discriminatory.

Meanwhile, quite recently a “Feast of Young Potatoes and Lightly Salted Cucumbers” was held in the Irkutsk region, and the festival “Za Ostrov” is scheduled on Olkhon Island for 20 August.

“Obviously, the imposed restrictions on holding public events do not pursue a legitimate goal and discriminate against citizens on the basis of political views,” the lawsuit against the city administration runs.

The date of the hearing of the Kirovsky District Court has not been set yet.

It should be noted that such a situation is typical. Thus, the Moscow Mayor’s Office answered in response to a request from the Yabloko faction in the Moscow City Duma regarding political actions that rallies and single pickets will be allowed only when the World Health Organisation announces the end of the coronavirus epidemic, this is despite the removal of all COVID restrictions in Moscow and different mass events regularly held in the Russian capital.