Press Release, 29.03.2021

Photo: Sergei Dustin / Photo by the Press Service of the Kaliningrad branch of Yabloko

On 25 March, Sergei Dustin, a human rights activist and head of the local branch of the Yabloko party in Baltiysk, was detained during his single picket (single pickets do not require any permissions from authorities) outside the building of the regional government. Dustin held a poster in the form of a housing and utility services bill which demonstrated high tariffs for utilieis. In 15 minutes, he was detained under a far-fetched pretext – an examination for alcohol intoxication. The analysis carried out in the Kaliningrad drug dependency clinic did not reveal any signs of intoxication.

Activists of the regional branch of Yabloko note that information about the planned single picket was published in social networks. The action is part of the struggle of the residents of the city in the West of Russia against the exorbitant tariffs for heating. The fight has been going on for several months already. The picket coincided with the arrival in the region of Alexander Gutsan< the Plenipotentiary of the President in the Northwestern Federal District. Activists of the Kaliningrad branch of Yabloko are inclined to associate the detention of the activist in front of the regional Government office with this fact.

The Press Service of the Kaliningrad branch of Yabloko promptly disseminated information about the unlawful detention of Dustin, and four hours later he was released from the police station after questioning, but without drawing up a protocol of any administrative offense.

Sergei Dustin is the coordinator of a group of activists in Baltiysk demanding that local and regional authorities take measures to reduce the utilities tariffs, and put things in order in the city’s heating system. Tariffs for housing and utilities in Baltiysk are the highest in the region and this despite the fact that in the cold season people freeze in their apartments.

The Kaliningrad branch of Yabloko notes, that earlier Sergei Dustin initiated the opening of a public reception for collecting signatures under an appeal to the Governor of the Kaliningrad region. The goal is to find out, among other things, the residents of which apartment buildings receive bills with overestimated charges for heat supply. The appeal to the Governor has been signed by 728 residents of the city.