Press Release, 4.03.2022

Photo: Vladimir Beradze / Photo from social networks

On 3 March, the police in Rostov-on-Don detained Vladimir Beradze, a member of the Yabloko party. He is one of the applicants for the action “For Peace and Friendship Between Peoples”.

The police approached Beradze in the street and checked his documents, and then took away his passport and phone. The police accused the activist of swearing and molesting passers-by, as well as resisting arrest, which was not true.

The Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Rostov-on-Don found the Yabloko activist guilty under Article 20.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (petty hooliganism) and sentenced him to 15 days of administrative arrest.

Vladimir Beradze is an aid-man at the COVID hospital. In the past he was the captain of the “Evrazi” KVN team (a team of comics in a popular Humour Club). He expressed his anti-war stance on social networks and, together with other activists, was the applicant for the action “For Peace and Friendship Between Peoples”.

The police have been persecuting Yabloko members for anti-war actions across Russia. The following Yabloko members received administrative arrests for participation in anti-war actions: Kirill Goncharov (Moscow, ten days), Nikolai Kavkazsky (Moscow, six days), Yuri Bagrov (St. Petersburg, ten days) and Javid Agayev (Chelyabinsk, fifteen days).