Press Release, 03.10.2015

On 3 October, on the day of celebration of the 120th anniversary of great Russian poet Sergei Yesenin in his hometown Konstantinovo, police detained Valentin Gavrilov, 77, honorable architect of Russia and a person who survived the siege of Leningrad in 1941 – 1944. Gavrilov was charged with resisting the police and organising an unsanctioned rally.

Together with Valentin Gavrilov, the police took to the police station Andrei Petrutsky, member of the All-Russian Society for Historic Preservation, and Igor Kochetkov, head of the expert group of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives in the Ryazan region.

77-year-old Valentin Gavrilov, Igor Kochetkov and Andrei Petrutsky were arrested for demonstrating the sketches of the draft of protected zones, which prohibited development of the “Yesenin’s area” by cottages. Some men in civilian clothes came up to the activists and demanded to go with them. They did not show any documents, tied up the activists and put them into a police car.

Valentin Gavrilov received a leg injury, doctors from the emergency called to the site recorded the injury. The architect was kept in the police station for nine hours.

YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin called the arrest another manifestation of the police arbitrary rule. “Honorable architect and defender of Sergei Yesenin’s heritage, who arrived to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the birth of the poet, was detained without any grounds. At the same time, the police behaved demonstratively rudely. For me it was a manifestation of the arbitrary rule by the police, ” Sergei Mitrokhin said.

Mitrokhin also added that YABLOKO would seek to abolishment of the charges against the activists and investigation into the lawfulness of the police actions.

“We urge head of the interior Vladimir Kolokoltsev to conduct full and open investigation of police arbitrariness”, Sergei Mitrokhin stated.

Also YABLOKO leader added that the party planed to hold a public inspection of the town Konstantinovo for commercial development of “Yesenin’s area”.

On Monday, 5 October, a trial over Gavrilov and Kochetkov will take place, they are charged with resisting lawful actions of the police and organising an unsanctioned picket. They are facing a fine of up to 30,000 rubles and an arrest for a period of 15 days.