Statement by Nikolai Rybakov and Boris Vishnevsky, 8.06.2021

Photo: Arseny Vesnin / Photo from Arseny Vesnin’s Facebook page

The Yabloko party is outraged by the persecution of Arseny Vesnin, a well-known St. Petersburg journalist, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Ekho Moskvi radio station in St. Petersburg, whom the Investigative Committee is trying to accuse of “libel of an individually undetermined group of persons (law enforcement officers)”.

During the mass protest actions in St. Petersburg in January 2021, Arseny Vesnin repeatedly reported about the violation of the rights of detainees during their detention in police departments.

This resulted not in an official check and taking measures against those who violated the law, but in a “check” against the journalist with the possible intention to initiate a criminal case against him under f Article 128.1 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation envisaging a punishment of up to two years of imprisonment or a fine of up to a million roubles. At the same time, the Investigative Committee refuses to let the journalist and his lawyers to study the materials of the investigation.

We regard this as the desire of law enforcement agencies to interfere with the professional activities of journalist Vesnin and demand an end to the persecution.

We believe that law enforcement agencies should be dealing with real, not fictional, crimes.

Nikolai Rybakov,

Yabloko Chairman

Boris Vishnevsky,

Head of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg