Press Release, 26.01.2016

Today, approximately at 12:00, Sergei Mitrokhin, member of YABLOKO’s Federal Political Committee, and two YABLOKO activists Anton Antonov-Ovseyenko and Stanislav Belyansky were detained by the President’s Administration during the action for the resignation of head of Administration of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov.

At present all the three are released. However, they are charged with violation of the order of organisation of public actions (article 20.2 of the Administrative Violation Code of Russia). Such violations envisage a fine from 10,000 to 20,000 roubles or up to 40 hours of compulsory community work.

Sergei Mitrokhin said that he was twice searched, which had never happened before, and police took away his mobile phone. At the same time, he recollected that when he and YABLOKO activists held a picket for resignation of Governor of the Pskov Region Turchak by the Presidential Administration in September 2015, the law enforcement did not interfere.

“The authorities value Kadyrov so much, that the Presidential Administration took unprecedented measures to prevent our action. Nevertheless, we managed to hold it. The poster demanding the dismissal of Kadyrov was deployed.

This completely unmotivated detention shows that such persons as Kadyrov are in great demand with the regime today. By Putin’s regime which strives to create an atmosphere of the state terror “, Sergei Mitrokhin said.

“We conclude here that Kadyrov’s threats to the opposition were not accidental. They were agreed with the President and his Administration,” Mitrokhin noted.

According to Galina Mikhaleva, First Deputy Chair of the Moscow branch of YABLOKO, “Kadyrov’s actions are completely unacceptable, unconstitutional and incite hatred in our society, set the authorities against the opposition.”

Mitrokhin was detained as soon as he unfolded the poster on the police demand. Anton Antonov-Ovseyenko was also detained together with Mitrokhin. Stanislav Belyansky was detained later.

Pickets for dismissal of Ramzan Kadyrov were also held in Novosibirsk and Stavropol.