Press Release, April 11, 2013

On April 10, the YABLOKO party held a meeting for representatives of democratic parties and organizations. The meeting discussed YABLOKO’s proposal on compiling of a single list of democratic candidates for the Moscow City Duma elections 2014. Earlier YABLOKO had proposed to give half of places on its party list to the candidates from democratic forces.
Members of the Democratic Choice party and their leader Vladimir Milov, representatives of the Solidarity movement and RPR-PARNAS, activists from Grazhdanskaya Initsiativa (Civil Initiative) and their leader Andrei Nechayev, Gennady Gudkov , member of the opposition’s Coordination Council, and Ilya Ponomaryov, deputy of the State Duma, took part in the meeting. Opening the meeting YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin spoke about YABLOKO’s initiative on creating a broad democratic and civil coalition for the Moscow City Duma elections. YABLOKO proposed to conduct primaries, where all the Muscovites could participate; whereas the winners in the primaries would be included into the YABLOKO party list of candidates and in single-mandate electoral districts. Sergei Mitrokhin emphasized that if the parties reached an agreement, YABLOKO would ready to take their representatives on the “party’s” part of the electoral list…

Civil funeral service in memory of journalist and public
activist Mikhail Beketov took place at the House of Journalists
today. Mikhail Beketov was a Russian journalist who combated
against crime and corruption in the city of Khimki (including
defence of Khimki Forest which had to be cut due the construction
of the Moscow–Saint Petersburg highway).

Read more »

The St.Petersburg branch of YABLOKO nominated 1550 candidates to the electoral commissions in all the districts of the city. The registration of documents in the electoral commissions is ending today.
“All of our candidates are well educated and active citizens and their main goal is to ensure compliance with the law at their electoral districts. Unfortunately YABLOKO’s representatives were not welcome at all the territorial electoral commissions” said Olga Pokrovskaya, member of the city electoral commission.
In particular, one of the territorial electoral commissions demanded statements of income from YABLOKO’s candidates (which is not envisaged by the law), another commission demanded that the copies of the work record books should be changed as allegedly they had not been properly notorised.

Read more »

On April 3 Acad. Alexei Yabloko, Chair of YABLOKO’s Green Russia faction and member of YABLOKO’s Political Committee, delivered a public lecture “Environmental problems of Russia” in the Kemerovo business center and held an informal meeting with representatives of public and scientific organisations during his trip to the Kemerovo region.

Read more »

Press Release, March 21, 2013

“Maxim Petlin can be considered a political prisoner,” YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin commented on the sentence to Maxim Petlin, leader of the Sverdlovsk Region branch of YABLOKO and deputy of the Yekaterinburg City Duma. Read more »

Press Release, March 2, 2013

YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin called the participants of the Social Manifestation to “change the authorities at the next elections to the Moscow City Duma,” rather than ask the Mayor of Moscow team for some “handouts”. “We offer the entire civil society to unite for the Moscow City Duma elections and agree to provide our party candidates list for this purpose, and we give half of the list for civil society activists,” Mitrokhin said at a rally on Sakharov Square.

Mitrokhin showed YABLOKO’s Manifesto 2014 to the rally.

“If we can do it, than we will win the mayoral election. And then we’ll come and say Sergei Sobyanin’s (the present Moscow Mayor) team: Moscow is not your city. This is our city! ” said YABLOKO leader.

Mitrokhin also said that the policies of the Moscow authorities was “authoritarian and incompetent in many areas, but extremely self-confident and based on the most profound contempt for the Muscovites”. “The Sobyanin’s team acts as if they came to some kindergarten rather than Moscow. They know what is better for us, and we should wait with our mouths open when they bring happiness to us,” Mitrokhin said.

Clearing off small businesses in favour of large networks, depriving migrants of their rights to improve their living conditions in favour of investors, tiling [the entire Moscow], construction works in the parks, mindless expansion of roads – here is this “happiness’, but not for the Muscovites, it is for officials and oligarchs at the expense of suffering of ordinary people.

According to Mitrokhin, today each Muscovite should ask a question “what is happening and why?” And give an answer until it is not too late.

The rally on Sakharov Square was preceded by a manifestation along the boulevards. YABLOKO’s column together with other political forces columns marched from Pushkin Square along the boulevards to Sakharov Square. Muscovites who know YABLOKO well as the party helped them to stand up for their rights, joined the party column.

YABLOKO activists held a banner “The Moscow authority must be controlled by Muscovites!”

YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin heading the column

Galina Mikhalyova, First Deputy Chairman of the Moscow branch of YABLOKO

More photographs

See also:

Human Rights

Freedom of Assembly

Elections to the Moscow City Duma 2014

Press Release, February 17, 2013

The Conference of the Moscow branch of YABLOKO adopted a Manifesto on compiling of a list candidates for the Moscow City Duma elections (which are to take place in 2014) from united democratic opposition. According to the Manifesto, half of the candidates in the party list will be given to civil activists and representatives from other political forces. Muscovites will determine the nominees in the primaries.

“Moscow has accumulated a critical mass of active people, they awoke from the “sleep’ during Putin’s 2000s, and they want to act. They do realise that their children will not have any normal human prospects in this country without changing of the political situation in the country, that is why they want to go into politics. We give them such an opportunity,” YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin stated at the Conference.

“A year ago we promised at the rallies that we would propose a definite political mechanism to address different problems. The adopted Manifesto is a direct and earnest answer to all the questions: what people who manifested at Bolotnaya Square and Sakharov Prospect and participated in other mass opposition rallies should do now,” said Grigory Yavlinsky, YABLOKO founder and member of the Political Committee. “The time of general discussions is over. It’s time to act,” he stressed.

Half of the seats in the party list of candidates, as required by law, will be taken by YABLOKO members. The rest of candidates will be determined via primaries that will be held in all 22 electoral territories. A primaries winner will either top the list of candidates in the electoral territory or will become the only candidate running from the party in a single mandate constituency. Those who come second at the primaries can work in the campaign of the primaries winner and, if he wins the election, become his aids.

The Manifesto highlights that only people sharing democratic values can take part in the primaries. “Nationalists and communists are unacceptable for us”, runs the document.

Running from the party, the candidates are exempted from the collection of signatures. The party guarantees its support to all the candidates running in a single mandate constituencies.

Registration for the primaries is already opened. In March, the rules of the primaries will be discussed and in October, the rules will be approved. Voting at primaries is scheduled for next May.

Elections to the Moscow City Duma will be held on September 8, 2014.

See also:

Elections to the Moscow City Duma, 2014

By Grigory Yavlinsky, The Moscow Times, February 19, 2013

U.S. President Barack Obama took his second oath of office on Jan. 20. The following Sunday, also in Washington, Metropolitan Tikhon was enthroned as the primate of the Orthodox Church in America. Read more »

Press Release, February 14, 2013

On Sunday, February 17, the Conference of the Moscow branch of the YABLOKO party will adopt a Manifest on the creation of nomination of a joint list of candidates from united democratic opposition for the Moscow City Duma elections of 2014.

The Manifesto will appeal to civil society activists and representatives of political forces sharing democratic values to participate in the formation of a joint list of candidates. YABLOKO will provide to such joint candidates half of the number of places allotted to the YABLOKO party nominees, as well as half of places in single-mandate precincts.

The candidates will be nominated via primaries. YABLOKO proposes to hold primaries in all the 22 electoral territories.

The Conference will begin at 12:00.

The Conference will be held at YABLOKO’s headquarters at the address: Pyatnitskaya 31/2, bldg 2 (metro stations Novokuznetskaya or “Tretyakovskaya).

Accreditation of journalists by phone: +7 495 780 30 19 or e-mail press@mosyabloko.ru.

See also:

Elections to the Moscow City Duma, 2014

Statement by YABLOKO’s Bureau
February 5, 2013

The YABLOKO party notes with concern a new wave of reprisals against YABLOKO members. Read more »

Press Release, December 4, 2012
A “memorial action of the deceased fair elections” has begun by the Central Electoral Commission Moscow office and in other cities. The action was launched by YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin by laying flowers to the Central Electoral Commission Moscow office at noon. Read more »

Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky by Yulia Kalinina, Moskovsky Komsomolets web-site, July 11, 2012

Translated in accordance with a complete version of the interview

(A shorter variant of the interview in Russian is published by MK at its web-site on July 12). Read more »

Press Release, March 16, 2012

Judicial Board on Criminal Cases of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court refused to extend arrest for Maxim Petlin, leader of Ekaterinburg YABLOKO, and granted him bail amounting to 5 million roubles. Petlin will come out of prison after the bail will be at the account of the Investigation Committee of the Russian Federation in the Sverdlovsk region. Read more »

Press Release, February 23, 2012

Unfortunately we have such a situation in our country when those who defend their Motherland and celebrate their professional holiday on February 23 should be defended from this Motherland. Read more »

Urgency Resolution adopted by ELDR Dresden Council
May 20, 2011
Submitted by the Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO

The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party Council, convening in Dresden, Germany on 20 May 2011:

Notes with deep concern:

– Reports on political reprisals against Oleg Orlov, Russian human rights activist, winner of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize and Chair of the “Memorial” Human Rights Centre, for voicing criticism of Chechen authorities about the investigation into the murder of human rights activist Natalya Estemirova in 2009;
– That trials initiated by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, the latest of which is set to resume in June, are clearly politically motivated, raise serious questions on the functioning of the Russian judicial system, and demonstrate the desire of the Chechen authorities to prevent Orlov voicing his opinion. Read more »

LI News Bulletin, Issue 230, April 28, 2011

LI full member party Yabloko has expressed great concerns over the recent charges made against Russian Human Rights Activist Oleg Orlov due to his comments that the Moscow-backed President of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, is politically responsible for the murder of fellow human rights activist Natalya Estemirova in July 2009. According to Yabloko leader, Sergei Mitrokhin: ““Ramzan Kadyrov’s case is a special case even for our generally low political culture. Even in our conditions of extreme restrictions on freedom of speech and general judicial arbitrariness, it never occurred to anyone to make allegations of political responsibility a subject of a law suit…Russia’s policies on Chechnya have to be changed sooner or later. The carte blanche to Ramzan Kadyrov and the people around him is not infinite. We urge the Russian leadership to realize this and change the policies to a more responsible approach. And we repeat: persecution of Oleg Orlov is inadmissible.” Mr. Orlov is the head of the Russian civil rights defence organization Memorial, which won the EU’s 2009 Sakharov Prize for Freedom and thought.

Statement by YABLOKO’s Political Committee
April 18, 2011

The Political Committee of the Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO expresses its indignation in view of political reprisals against human rights activist and Chair of the Memorial human rights centre Oleg Orlov. Read more »

Press Release, February 25, 2011

A district court in Yekaterinburg decided to release the leader of the Sverdlovsk branch of YABLOKO Maxim Petlin under the bail of deputies of the regional parliament and the city parliament. The state prosecutor demanded to apply such preventive measure as imprisonment of Petlin before the trial. Read more »

hro.org, July 21, 2010

A picket organized by the regional Memorial branch in memory of human rights activist Memorial’s Natalya Estemirova kidnapped in Grozny, Chechnya, and killed in Ingushetia on July 15, 2009, took place in Ekaterinburg. Read more »

Press Release, July 16, 2010

An action in memory of renowned human rights activist Natalya Estemirova kidnapped and murdered a year ago in took place in Nevsky Prospect, St.Petersburg, on July 16, 2010. Read more »