The Moscow Mayor’s Office explained the ban on street protests for the opposition by “long-term measures” of WHO
Earlier, Sobyanin promised to lift restrictions if the WHO announced the end of the pandemic.
Press Release, 14.06.2023
Photo: Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin / Photo by Vladimir Gerdo, TASS
The head of the Yabloko faction in the Moscow City Duma, Maxim Kruglov, demanded in his letter to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, dated 10 May, the immediate lifting of the anti-COVID ban on public events, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced the end of the pandemic on 5 May.
In a response from the Mayor’s Office, Deputy Head of the Department of Regional Security and Anti-Corruption, Vasily Oleinik, referring to “international experience”, noted that it was “premature to completely cancel anti-epidemiological restrictions”.
“It is necessary to approach the lifting of restrictive measures, focusing on the current operational situation in the city,” wrote the official who had previously suggested waiting for the decision of WHO on the end of the pandemic.
Now Mr.Oleinik referred to the “long-term measures to combat the virus,” recommended by WHO in its decision of 5 May, without specifying what these measures were and why they concerned only street actions of the opposition, including single-person pickets. It should be noted that the ban of the Mayor’s office does not apply to “mass entertainment, cultural and leisure events”, for example, rallies with the participation of President Putin in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
The head of the Yabloko faction in the Moscow City Duma, Maxim Kruglov, noted that the fear of the political activity of citizens made the Mayor’s Office come up with increasingly more ridiculous excuses.
“It is difficult to imagine a more cynical answer from the Mayor’s Office. Instead of honestly declaring the existence of political censorship in Moscow, the authorities continue to ban single pickets under the guise of COVID restrictions,” Kruglov commented. “We insist that all restrictions on public events must be lifted.”
MAXIM KRUGLOV
is a member of the Federal Bureau of the Yabloko Party,
Deputy Chairman of the Moscow branch of Yabloko.
Head of the Yabloko faction in the Moscow City Duma. Candidate of Political Sciences.
Posted: June 14th, 2023 under Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Speech, Human Rights, The Yabloko faction in the Moscow City Duma, Yabloko's Regional Branches, Без рубрики.