Press Release, 15.03.2023

Photo: Rallies in in Aloye Pole, Gagarin Park and Kolyushchenko Square in Chelyabinsk / Photo by the Chelyabinsk branch of Yabloko

On 15 March, the Seventh Court of Cassation in Chelyabinsk upheld the decision of the Second Court of Appeal on the organisation of “hyde parks” (specially designated free speech zones where no permissions from authorities for rallies are required) in Aloye Pole, Gagarin Park and Kolyushchenko Square. The complaint was sent to the cassation by the government and the Public Prosecutor of the Chelyabinsk region.

“It can already be said that we have created an important legal precedent: “hyde parks” cannot be canceled without justification. In Chelyabinsk, this was done simply on the basis of unmotivated requests from the Mayor of the city and the head of the regional police. According to the court, this violates the constitutional principle of trust in the law and the actions of public authorities, which is based on the inadmissibility of making arbitrary changes,” commented Yaroslav Shcherbakov, Chairman of the Chelyabinsk Yabloko, who, together with human rights activist Vasily Moskovets, represents the interests of Chelyabinsk residents.

A similar claim for the return of a “hyde park” is now being considered by the Chelyabinsk Regional Court in the interests of the residents of Magnitogorsk. The residents of city are represented in the lawsuit by Yaroslav Shcherbakov and the Chairwoman of the local branch of Yabloko Kira Belaya.

The Chelyabinsk branch of Yabloko believes that the government has become a hostage to its own tricks: since 2018, by changing the list of “hyde parks” established in 2012, it purposefully removed such places further from the city centre, replacing them with less attractive sites. Thus, a parking and the square by the Chelyabinsk Metallurgic Plant in Chelyabinsk, and a place inside a large park in Magnitogorsk became “hyde parks”.