Press Release, August 20, 2013

Candidates for municipal deputies from the YABLOKO party in the city of Novomoskovsk are facing obstruction in their campaigning: illegal propaganda leaflets against YABLOKO are spread, YABLOKO’s activists and distributors of party newspapers encounter presser from the police, mailboxes in the blocks of flats are cleaned off YABLOKO’s leaflets and papers, however, the ruling United Russia’s handovers are left on their places, provocateurs come to the meetings of YABLOKO’s candidates with voters, etc.

Thus, for example, on August 17, illegal materials targeted against YABLOKO’s candidates Alexander Vikulin and Oleg Shevkin were released. They were accused in destabilisation of the housing and utility sector in the city, although all the residents knew that YABLOKO’s candidates had been fighting against arbitrary rule of the monopolists in this sector and because of their work the utilities companies were fined by the State Housing Inspection and the regional government. The candidates applied to the public prosecutor and the city police department asking to investigate the fact of publication of libel against them.

In addition, two YABLOKO’s activists who had been collecting signatures under a petition to the President of Russia in connection with bad environmental situation in the city were detained by police.

Vladimir Dorokhov, Chairman of the Tula branch of YABLOKO, said that this situation represented a response of the [regional] administration to YABLOKO’s nomination of a strong list of candidates and thus can get vast support from the population in the Tula region. “We will not give up, on the contrary, we will have even a more active campaign, organize pickets, and we will do our best so that to convey our position to the residents of Novomoskovsk,” he said.

On September 8 YABLOKO will participate in municipal elections in the Tula region. In Novomoskovsk YABLOKO’s list of candidates is topped by Alexander Vikulin, deputy of the city legislative assembly, Alexei Sasalin, Chair of the local branch of YABLOKO, and Oleg Shevkin, activist protecting residents’ rights in the housing and utilities sector.