Press Release, 17.07.2024

Photo: Alexander Yefimov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

The Volzhsky City Court, in a retrial, once again fined Alexander Yefimov, a member of the Federal Bureau of the Yabloko party, 15,000 roubles under the charges of “participation in the activities of an undesirable organisation” (Article 20.33 of the Administrative Code) because of his interview to the Golos project. The decision was made on 17 July. Yefimov intends to appeal it.

It should be noted that in May 2024, the Volgograd Regional Court sent the administrative case of Alexander Yefimov for “participation in the activities of an undesirable organisation” for re-examination. On 4 April, the court of the city of Volzhsky fined Yefimov 15,000 roubles for his interview to the Youtube channel of the Golos independent election oberservers movement. Yefimov indicated in his appeal against the court’s decision the lack of corpus delicti and procedural errors.

On December 20, 2023, Alexander Yefimov gave an interview to colleagues in the observers community about Yabloko’s position regarding the upcoming presidential elections. On 20 February, the politician was summoned to the public prosecutor’s office of the city of Volzhsky, the Volgograd region, where an administrative protocol was drawn up against him under Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences (“participation in the activities of an undesirable organisation”). The authorities believe that Golos is part of the international non-governmental organisation European Network of Election Monitoring Organisations (ENEMO), which was declared undesirable in Russia in 2021.

Previously, Alexander Yefimov was found guilty of “discrediting the army” for publishing official UN data. The fine under this administrative article amounted to 30,000 roubles. In addition, Yefimov’s page on Vkontakte social media was blocked by the decision of the Public Prosecutor General’s Office.

In June 2024, the Federal Bureau of Yabloko nominated Alexander Yefimov as a candidate for the by-election of a State Duma deputy in single-mandate electoral district No. 152, which includes the Aksai district of the Rostov region and the city of Novocherkassk.

Read more about persecution of Yabloko members since the start of the “special military operation”.