The [authorities] are evicting the St. Petersburg branch of the organisation from its office

Statement by the Yabloko party, 17.08.2018

The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko is outraged by the attempts of the St. Petersburg Administration to evict the Memorial charitable historical and educational human rights organisation from its office in Razezhey Street, 9, in St. Petersburg, which [Memorial] has been occupying since 1997.

In April 2018, the City Commission for Disposal of Property refused to Memorial in concluding the [regular] rent contract for a new period without explaining the reasons. In July 2018, the St. Petersburg authorities announced termination of the contract and offered Memorial to vacate the premises [of its office] within three months.

Memorial did not break the terms of the rent contract, and there have never been any complaints from the city authorities. Moreover, Memorial was constantly (also in 2018!) included by the Government of St. Petersburg into the “List of public associations of veterans of war and labour, prisoners of fascist concentration camps, disabled people and victims of political reprisals of St. Petersburg, subject to exemption from rent payments for the use of objects of non-residential facilities that are owned by St. Petersburg”. That is, it was recognised as an organisation entitled to state support.

Yabloko considers the attempt to evict Memorial in St. Petersburg as another case when authorities create obstacles to the activities of a respected human rights organisation, all this along with the persecution of Oyub Titiev and Yuri Dmitriev, leaders of Memorial in Chechnya and Karelia, and attacks on the organisation’s offices in Ingushetia and Dagestan.

Yabloko considers the increasing number of such cases as evidence of violation of human rights, rather than their protection prescribed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and the former is the true state policy in modern Russia.

Yabloko demands that the authorities of St. Petersburg should revise their decision and extend the rent contract for the Memorial [human rights society].

Emilia Slabunova,

Chair of the Yabloko party