Press Release, 2.10.2024

Photo: Lev Shlosberg / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Lev Shlosberg, Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party, is a suspect in a criminal case under Article 330.1 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Evasion of duties stipulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation on foreign agents”).

Early in the morning, security forces come to his apartment in Pskov with a search. Later, Shlosberg was interrogated in the presence of his lawyer, after which Shlosberg was released. A search was also conducted at the apartment of Shlosberg’s 95-year-old father.

The Deputy Chairman of Yabloko was added to the register of foreign agents by the Ministry of Justice in June 2023. Since then, he has been fined three times already for “violating the rules for operating as a foreign agent”, although Shlosberg has never violated any laws – all publications on his social media have been published with the necessary marking of a “foreign agent” as prescribed by the law.

Lev Shlosberg’s commentary:

I sincerely thank everyone who was worried, wrote, called, helped during these hours and is still worried, writing, calling and helping. I will answer you all personally, a little later. Now some details.

Today at 6:10 a.m., representatives of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation came to our home for a search. The reason was the initiation of a criminal case against me on 1 October, under of Article 330.1 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Evasion of duties stipulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation on foreign agents”. The search warrant of 1 October 1 was given by Judge V. Malyamov of the Pskov City Court.

The searches were conducted in my and [my wife] Zhanna’s apartment, as well as in the apartment of my father, Mark Naumovich Shlosberg. In addition, as far as I learned after these searches, another search was conducted at the place of residence of people who are in no way connected with me. I can assume that the reason for this search was unreliable information that was at the disposal of the investigation. I apologise to these honest, innocent victims and hope that the property seized during the search will be returned to them as quickly as possible.

The search in our apartment lasted until 7:50 a.m., after which my lawyer Vladimir Danilov and I went to the Pskov Investigation Department for interrogation by the head of the investigative group. I answered all the investigator’s questions as a suspect. I was not given any charges.

I do not plead guilty to the crime of which I am suspected, there is no criminal element in my actions. A detailed legal position has been presented to the investigator. Despite my denial of the legal nature of the law and the actions of the Ministry of Justice, I punctually comply with all the restrictions provided for by this repressive law. Everyone who reads my public pages and watches my programmes sees this. This is a well-known fact.

Certainly, I do not consider myself and am not anyone’s “foreign agent”. Everyone understands this, even those participating in my persecution. I consider the federal law “on foreign influence” to be completely unlawful, intended solely for unfair political struggle and political persecution. This law must be completely repealed, this repressive status must be removed from all “foreign agents”. My case is yet another reason for this. There is no place for such laws in a state governed by the rule of law.

I thank the lawyer Vladimir Danilov for his composed defence. Once again, I thank everyone who during these hours empathised with everything that was happening to me and my family, and other people affected by this case. Thank you for your solidarity. I ask everyone, as much as possible, to maintain composure, if not calm. We will stay in touch.

Sooner or later, all this will end. Let’s hope that it will be through our efforts too. Thanks to everyone who is helping.