Press Release, 14.08.2021

Photo: Yelena Izotova/ Photo from the personal VKontakte page

The court in Kazan recognised Yelena Izotova, Chair of the Yabloko Green Russia faction in Tatarstan and a Yabloko candidate for the State Duma, involved in the “extremist” organization. Thus Izotova will now face removal from elections

According to Izotova, the court session took place in her absence.

“I have just found on the website of the court that, despite my sick leave and the absence of my representative, the Vakhitovsky Court, represented by Judge Bulatov, satisfied the claim of the Public Prosecutor’s Office on recgonising me as the one involved in an extremist organisation. It turns out it is very important it is to execute the order without observing the laws of the Russian Federation,” Yelena Izotova notes.

The administrative statement of claim was handed to Yelena Izotova by the employees of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the employees of the Centre E immediately after she received the certificate of a candidate for the elections.

The case file contains screenshots of her Vkontakte page, where Yelena Izotova made posts in support of Alexei Navalny, called on to go to the rally on 14 February  which was not permitted by the Kazan Mayor’s Office, and offered to undergo training in election observation. On this basis, the court found Izotova connected with the “Navalny team” in Kazan (the Moscow City Court recognised the “Navalny Headquarters” as an extremist organisation).

Activists of the Tatarstan branch of Yabloko believe that on the basis of this decision of the court, Yelena Izotova will be removed from the elections. She was nominated for elections to the State Duma from Yabloko in regional group No. 49, as well as to run in a single-mandate district.

Yelena Izotova was one of the leaders of the protest against the construction of an incineration plant near Osinovo. In 2020, opponents of the plant, including Izotova, ran for elections to the Council of the Osinovsky settlement, but the court removed them.

On August 13, the public prosecutor’s office of the Vakhitovsky district of Kazan also appealed to the court with a demand to recognize the chairman of the Tatarstan Yabloko, the leader of the regional party list in the elections to the State Duma, as well as the candidate in single-mandate constituency No. 31 Ruslan Zinatullin, involved in the extremist organization Navalny Headquarters, court session scheduled for 20 August.

On 13 August, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Vakhitovsky district of Kazan appealed to the court with a demand to recognise Ruslan Zinatullin, Chairman of the Tatarstan branch of Yabloko, the leader of the regional list of Yabloko candidates in the elections of the State Duma and the Yabloko candidate in single-mandate constituency No. 31, as the one involved in the activities of the “extremist organization” Alexei Navalny Headquarters. The court session is scheduled for 20 August.

It should be noted that the Moscow City Court made a decision to cancel the registration of Lev Shlosberg as a candidate for State Duma in a single-mandate constituency on the administrative claim of Andrei Pangayev, a candidate for State Duma deputy in single-mandate constituency No. 207 from the Green Party.

On August 6, an administrative protocol was drawn up against Alexander Korovainy, a candidate for State Duma from Yabloko, for his deleted video in support of Alexei Navalny.

On August 7, the Rostov police disrupted a meeting with voters of Alexander Ryabchuk, a Yabloko candidate for the State Duma.

Candidates for deputies of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg faced difficulties during registration. A candidate from the Green Alternative party and a self-nominated candidate tried to remove Boris Vishnevsky, Deputy Chairman of Yabloko, from elections complaining on his posts about the need to protect the detainees, but the relevant electoral commissions did not support the complaint.