Press Release, 10.12.2020

Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov demanded from St.Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov to check the information on possible violations committed by 22 deputies of St. Petersburg municipalities representing the ruling United Russia party when they provided information on their incomes and property.

In November, St. Petersburg municipal assemblies, following an audit of declarations initiated by Governor Beglov, deprived two deputies elected from the Yabloko party – Anna Karulicheva (the Narva District) and Vera Morozova (the Malaya Okhta municipality) – of their mandates. The grounds for such a decision were never presented to the deputies.

Yabloko considers this “a method of reprisals against political opponents” and “an attempt by the authorities to achieve revenge for losing the municipal elections”. The party will appeal against the deprivation of its deputies of their mandates in court, but for now the party will seek a similar verification of declarations of the Governor’s party members (now the Governor says he does not belong to United Russia, but until last year he was a registered member of this party).

According to the data published in the media, at least 22 United Russia members violated the law and did not indicate in the declarations on the websites of their municipalities the  information about the residential premises that are in their use or the use of their family members.

“We believe that the very procedure when municipal deputies representing different political forces can use such a mechanism to deprive their opponents of their mandates is absolutely unacceptable. Deputies are elected by citizens, and only a court should have the right to deprive them of their status. However, since there is such a procedure in the law, we will not allow double standards. Since Governor Beglov has already seen a speck in someone else’s eye, let him now deal with a beam in his own eye,” Nikolai Rybakov says.

Rybakov also added that if the audit reveals that two dozen deputies do not have a permanent place of residence, then the Governor should contact the Nochlezhka charity foundation for the homeless (Night Shelter), which has been operating in St. Petersburg for 30 years and provides assistance to people left without a permanent place of residence.