Press Release, 20.09.2014

YABLOKO activists conducted picketing for freedom of political prisoner, ecologist Evgeny Vitishko in Moscow on September 19.

“Vitishko shouldn’t be kept in prison. He didn’t commit any crimes, on the contrary, he struggled against the crimes of the governor of the Krasnodar Territory Alexandr Tkachyov, against capturing the land and putting a fence round a part of the Black Sea shore on behalf of the governor. That’s the reason why he was arrested – for civil, effective and extremely important activity. Now he is persecuted in the colony for struggling for the rights of other prisoners”, said YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin.

Sofya Rusova picketed Prosecutor General’s Office on September 17

Mitrokhin said that YABLOKO and environment protectors were conducting actions in support of Vitishko around the country. On September 17 it was started by adviser of YABLOKO Chairman Sofya Rusova outside Prosecutor’s General Office.

The court hearing on Evgeny Vitishko case will take place in Krasnodar on September 24. YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin will be present there. Evgeny Vitishko and Suren Gazaryan are the ecologists who were charged with three years on probation for their criticism of the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory under a pretext of spray-paining on the fence of his “country house”. The environmental activists expressed their disagreement with unlawful seizure of lands and fencing of public territories in a natural reserve near the Black Sea. Suren Gazaryan left the country. On the threashold of the Sochi Olympic Games suspended sentence for Vitishko was replaced by a real term in a penal settlement.

YABLOKO activists faced difficulties when picketing since an FSB lorry was parked right at the place where the picket was supposed to take place. They refused to explain why their lorry was parked at the sidewalk. When Sergei Mitrokhin arrived a policeman came up and demanded to show the documents proving the picket was authorized. At that moment the FSB agents started to provoke a conflict by saying that YABLOKO was financed by Poland. But Sergei Mitrokhin “calmed them down” by saying that it was a good quastion who financed them [FSB]. After that the lorry left.

At the end of the action YABLOKO activists left a placard “Free Evgeny Vitishko” outside General Prosecutor’s office as a present for Prosecutor General Yuri Chayka.