Press Release, 27.03.2026

Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Yelena Gavrilova, an instructor of the Yabloko branch in Stavropol and Yabloko party member, has been refused permission to hold a rally entitled “For a Free Internet”. A letter signed by Deputy Mayor Denis Alpatov states that the rally application “lacks information on the forms and methods by which the organiser of the public event will ensure public order, the organisation of medical assistance, and sanitary provisions”.

Had the event been approved, ensuring public order and police presence would have been the direct responsibility of the city administration and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while the provision of medical aid would have been a shared responsibility of the administration and the organisers. This is stipulated by the Law “On Rallies”.

In addition, Denis Alpatov stated that the Yabloko applicants had violated the requirements of the 2012 Stavropol Territory Law “On Certain Matters Concerning the Holding of Public Events”. However, his letter does not specify which provisions of the law were breached.

It should be noted that the notification for the event planned for 5 April, with an anticipated attendance of up to 100 people, was submitted not only by Yelena Gavrilova but also by Vitaly Zubenko, Deputy Chairman of the regional branch, and Yevgeny Golovashchenko, Chairman of Yabloko’s local branch.

On Friday evening it also became known that Yelena Gavrilova had been summoned to the police.

“I have just received a call from the Ministry of Internal Affairs saying that tomorrow [28 March] at 5 p.m. I am required to attend the police station to be served with a warning,” Yelena Gavrilova said.

This is likely a formal warning against the commission of offences. Such “documents” carry no legal force and are used by the security services to pressure activists. For instance, on 1 March, a similar warning was issued by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to Kirill Goncharov, Chairman of Moscow Yabloko, who had been a co-applicant for a rally in Moscow (the event was refused on the grounds of Covid-related restrictions).

It should be also noted that similar applications to hold “For a Free Internet” rallies were submitted by Yabloko representatives not only in Moscow and Stavropol, but also in Kazan and twice in Irkutsk — first for 1 March, then for 29 March. In each case the grounds for refusal differed: in addition to Covid, officials cited excessive public interest in the issue of Internet blocking and the slowing of Telegram, as well as the alleged “unlawfulness” of the demand for free access to information guaranteed by the Constitution.