Press Release, 20.03.2024

Photo: Head of the regional Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region Roman Plugin in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg  / Photo by the Press Service of the St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly

The head of police for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, Roman Plugin, during his annual report to deputies of the St. Petersburg parliament, said that he considered the actions of the St.Petersburg police in the presidential elections, including at the most scandalous polling stations, to be in line with the law. Boris Vishnevsky, MP of the St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly and Deputy Chairman of Yabloko, asked Roman Plugin to comment on the actions and inactions of a number of St. Petersburg police officers during the three voting days of 15-17 March.

Vishnevsky asked Police Chief Roman Plugin to give his assessment to the events that took place at two polling stations: polling station No. 1136 (Krasnoselsky District), where police officers by force dragged a voter out of the voting booth and demanded to show his ballot, and also at polling station No. 427 (Kalininsky District) , where unidentified persons beat a member of the commission with the right to a decisive vote, Olesya Vasilchenko, knocked her down and then dragged her out from the commission premises into the corridor, while the police officer remained inactive.

“Do you agree that the actions of the police officer in the first case and inaction in the second were contrary to the task of maintaining public order at the polling station <…>. Will inspections be carried out and measures taken? And what measures do you consider necessary to take to ensure that such cases do not recur in the future?” Yabloko Deputy Chairman Boris Vishnevsky asked.

“Do I think [the actions of the police officers] were unlawful? No, I don’t think so. During the election period, there were 322 reports of possible incidents that required our intervention. I cannot recollect offhand these two cases that you are talking about, I will definitely return to them when I am at my workplace, I will let you know what measures and actions will have been taken,” Plugin replied. He also added that during elections there were no comments on the work of the police from the Central Electoral Commission or the public prosecutor’s office.

Boris Vishnevsky personally handed over to Roman Plugin the copies of his inquiries regarding these two episodes.