Statement by the Yabloko party, 25.08.2017

The Yabloko party is outraged by the sentence to Olga Zaletskaya, Anastasia Kravchuk and Alexandra Kornilova.

The judicial system of Russia once again proved that it is ready to serve any interests of the executive branch of power. The authorities of the Republic [of Karelia] turned the law into an instrument of political manipulations and pressure.

The accusations against Yabloko’s team is pure invention and the Petropit case is framed-up [Yabloko members are accused of organising the sale of Petropit building which allegedly resulted in the damage to the city budget]. It is only goal is purging the political framework of the Republic.

The authorities, who cannot compete in the elections, made the persecution of their opponents the only mechanism of preservation of their influence. The outcome of such a policy is a terrible economic situation in the region, poverty of the residence, a terrible corruption rate and political instability.

Today’s sentence is a blow on the new leadership of the Republic, it proves their weakness and lack of authority.

One cannot doubt the honesty and the reputation of the Karelian branch of Yabloko. The party will do all in its power to defend its members including the appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. We will stand for the repeal of the sentence and end of persecution of the Karelian branch of Yabloko.

Emilia Slabunova
Yabloko Chair

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Anastasia Kravchuk and Alexandra Kornilova were sentanced to 3,5 years on parole and fined 500,000 thousand roubes and Olga Zaletskaya was sentenced to 4 years on parole and fined 500,000 roubles.

The leaders of the Karelian branch of Yabloko have been criminally persecuted for 4 years. Vasily Popov, ex-member of Yabloko’s Political Committee, Anastasia Kravchuk, ex-Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Karelian Republic, and Olga Zaletskaya, head of the regional party branch and leader of Yabloko’s faction in the Legislative Assembly of Karelia, are accused of organising a sale of Petropit building, which allegedly resulted in the damage to the city budget. Vasily Popov was arrested in his absence. The Memorial Human Rights Group claims that Olga Zaletskaya, Alexandra Kornilova, Anastasia Fravchuk and Vasily Popov are illegally persecuted on political grounds.