Press Release, 30.03.2017

The organizer of the rally in Stavropol is beaten and a participant in the action in Rostov-on-Don is fined.

On the night of 30 March 30, Ivan Tansky, member of the local branch of the Youth YABLOKO in Stavropol and the organiser of the anti-corruption action on 26 March, was attacked in Stavropol. An unidentified person was watching the activist at the entrance of his house, when he was returning home from work, attacked him striking several blows, and disappeared. Ivan is undergoing medical examination now, he has abrasions and bruises, and also concussion is suspected.

According to Tansky, the attacker was wearing a medical mask. He asked the activist for his name and then asked him why had been involved in organisng the protests.

Vitaly Zubenko, lawyer of Ivan Tansky, said that today they filed an application to the police. Zubenko also expressed his hope that there could be witnesses of the attack and could see the attacker, as, obviously, the attacker had been waiting for the activist by his house for a long time. “Given the circumstances of the incident, we can assume that the attack was connected with the action of 26 March,” the lawyer said.

This incident has become on the chain of reprisals against the activists of the Youth YABLOKO in Stavropol. The Stavropol branch of Youth YABLOKO has been facing pressure from the local departments of the law enforcement and the Federal Security Service. In March, Kirill Bobro, leader of the organisation, was arrested. The party believes that the persecution is obviously political, and the case against Bobro was fabricated.

Meanwhile, a district court has fined three participants of a similar anti-corruption action in Rostov-on-Don, another large city in South Russia, including Chairman of the Rostov-on-Don Youth YABLOKO Andrei Sklyarov. He was charged under Article 20.2 of the Administrative Offences Code (“Violation of the established procedure for organising or holding a meeting, rally, demonstration, procession or picketing”) and a fine of 15,000 rubles was assigned. The activist intends to appeal the decision of the court.