Internet media VidSboku, 20.05.2025

Photo: Konstantin Smirnov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

The sureties to the Soviet District Court of Ryazan with a request to change the preventive measure for Konstantin Smirnov, Chairman of the Ryazan branch of Yabloko, deputy of the Council of Deputies of the Dubrovichi rural settlement of the Ryazan district from Yabloko and editor-in-chief of VidSboku Internet media, were sent to the court by the Chairman of Yabloko Nikolai Rybakov and his deputies; the Chairman of the Federal Political Committee of Yabloko Grigory Yavlinsky and members of the Federal Political Committee of the party, as well as deputies from the party from several regions.

Grigory Yavlinsky asks the court to change the preventive measure for Konstantin Smirnov, who is in a pretrial detention facility, to house arrest or any other measure not related to imprisonment, and expresses confidence that Smirnov will not violate it.

“Konstantin Smirnov is an active, caring, and decent member of society – he is the head of a respected regional media outlet, a municipal deputy, and the head of the regional branch of the party. I have no doubt that Smirnov will not hide from the investigation,” Grigory Yavlinsky notes.

Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov, his deputies Maxim Kruglov and Anna Cherepanova, members of the Federal Political Committee of Yabloko: Alexander Shishlov, Coordinator of the Federal Political Committee, head of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg and candidate of physical and mathematical sciences; Yevgeny Bunimovich, Honoured Teacher of Russia, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences and author of school textbooks; Valery Borshchyov, member of the Expert Council under the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Russian Federation; and Doctor of Economics Yevgeny Gontmakher. The surety was also sent by Olga Shtannikova, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg and member of the party arbitration.

A collective appeal to the Investigative Committee and the court was sent by deputies from Karelia: Emilia Slabunova, head of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of Karelia; Inna Boluchevskaya, deputy of the Legislative Assembly and Deputy Chairperson of the Legislative Assembly Committee on Healthcare and Social Policy; Dmitry Rybakov, head of the Yabloko faction of the Petrozavodsk City Council, and Olga Tuzhikova, deputy of the Petrozavodsk City Council and member of the standing commission on housing and communal services of the city council.

An appeal with a request to release Konstantin Smirnov from the pretrial detention was sent by Yabloko deputies from the Ryazan region: Anatoly Kivva (Zaboryevskoye rural settlement of the Ryazan district), Maria Rakcheyeva (Kriushinskoye rural settlement of the Klepikovsky district), and Valentin Baimetov (Miloslavskoye urban settlement of the Miloslavsky district).

The applicants note: Konstantin Smirnov is a well-known and active deputy in the Ryazan region, who publicly raised the problems of his constituents, sought to resolve the pressing issues of the residents of the Dubrovichy rural settlement.

“We personally know Konstantin Smirnov as a responsible person and a decent citizen. We note: over all these years, law enforcement agencies have not had any questions for Konstantin Smirnov. We are ready to guarantee that he will not abscond and will not interfere with the investigation,” the appeal of the Yabloko deputies runs.

Konstantin Smirnov has been in pretrial detention since 31 January on charges of “extortion”; he does not admit guilt. Smirnov’s term of detention expires on 30 May; the court may extend this measure of restraint or choose another one that does not involve imprisonment.

Earlier, an appeal to change the measure of restraint for Konstantin Smirnov was sent by representatives of the Ryazan public figures and journalists of the region.

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