Press Release, 27.04.2021

Photo by saiko3p/depositphotos

On 27 April, the Bureau of the Ivanovo branch of Yabloko issued a statement announcing launch of a public campaign for the legal protection of the participants of the rally of 21 April. “On 21 April, a rally in support of Alexei Navalny and other prisoners of conscience was held in the Ivanovo region, as in many other regions of the country. The peaceful action resulted in the detention of more than 50 people in the regional centre. Such a large number of the detained in unprecedented for our region. According to our information, about 40 reports on an administrative offense under Article 20.2 of the Administrative Offenses Code of the Russian Federation “Violation of the established procedure for organising or holding an assembly, meeting, demonstration, procession or picketing” were drawn up for the event participants,” the statement runs.

The Bureau of the Ivanovo branch of Yabloko indicates that the authorities regard young people as “persistent offenders” and are going to bring them to administrative responsibility on politically motivated reasons. Most of these young people have had no experience with the law enforcement and the judicial system, accordingly, they do not have the skills to defend their interests in court. Almost all of them are frustrated. That is why it is so important to demonstrate civil solidarity with all those unlawfully detained at the rally.

The Ivanovo regional branch of the Yabloko party announces the launch of a civil human rights campaign following rally of the 21 April. “We will try to provide legal protection to everyone who is unlawfully brought to administrative responsibility,” the Bureau writes. According to Yabloko, five Ivanovo lawyers and attorneys have already joined our initiative, and more are going to join. Yabloko also announces fundraising to provide legal support for the protesters in the courts, so that each of them could feel protected.

“It is fundamentally important that we announce a fundraising campaign solely to pay for the services of lawyers, and not for paying off future administrative fines. Why are we doing this? We do not rely on acquittals in the courts of the first instance. But we believe that a competently developed legal position presented in court will add confidence to young Ivanovo residents that they are not criminals, help them to realise the correctness of their views and beliefs, and the correct choice of democratic values. But automatic payment of fines is more likely to lead to frustration and burnout. That is why we declare the need to protect the participants in the upcoming trials and their maximum publicity. And we ask you to support us in this,” the statement runs.