Press Release, 30.08.2020

Ksenia Sverdlova, candidate for the regional Duma from the Yabloko party and Chair of the Saratov regional branch of the party, appealed to Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, and Igor Krasnov, Public Prosecutor General, asking them to stop the interference of law enforcement agencies and the Saratov city administration in the election campaign.

“I am asking you to check on the fact that the city administration put pressure on advertising agencies, after which they were forced to refuse me in placement of my campaign materials. I am also asking you to check the actions of the Volzhsky District Public Prosecutor’s Office, which put pressure on the Pchela homeowners company, as a result my campaign materials were removed,” the candidate wrote on her page on the social network.

Ksenia Sverdlova also attached fragments of telephone conversations confirming her arguments. In one of the pieces Chair of the Pchela homeowners company states that she removed the campaign materials after a call from the Volzhsky District Public Prosecutor’s Office, despite the absence of an official procedural decision, simply because of fearing trouble from the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The regional branch of the Yabloko party believes that the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Volzhsky district of the city of Saratov is putting pressure on Ksenia Sverdlova, candidate for the Saratov Regional Duma from the Yabloko party, and demands that Public Prosecutor General’s Office and the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Saratov region conduct an inspection and draw to responsibility the officials involved in this.

The Saratov Regional Duma announced by-elections for districts No. 1 and No. 12. By-elections to the Saratov Regional Duma will be held on 13 September.