Press Release, 3.09.2022

Photo: Alexander Makhankov’s campaign leaflet “I and Yabloko Stand for Peace!” / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Alexander Makhankov, a Yabloko candidate for deputies of the municipal council of the Pushkinsky District of St.Petersburg, was warned that his campaign products were sent for examination on suspicion of the presence of “extremism” in them. Territorial Electoral Commission No. 20 recommended Makhankov to stop distribution of his leaflets for the duration of the examination; whereas the voting day is 11 September.

In his leaflets, Makhankov reflects the key directives of the Yabloko party congress: the demands of the party to exchange war prisoners with Ukraine on the principle of “all for all”, a ceasefire, the investigation of war crimes and the release of Russian political prisoners. Employees of the Territorial Electoral Commission suspect that such a stance is of an extremist nature.

“The stance for peace is the official stance of the Yabloko party, formulated by the Yabloko party congress in April. We are not retreating from it.

There were no complaints from the “competent authorities” against it. It [the stance] is absolutely legal.

“The “checks” can serve as the basis for [their] stopping the distribution of the election campaign materials despite of what the sycophantic territorial electoral commission could fantasy about it. Good luck and victory to Alexander Makhankov,” Boris Vishnevsky, Deputy Chairman of Yabloko, commented on the incident.