Press release, 30.07.2015
Today street musicians conducted a series of one-person picketing against the restriction of artistic expression. YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin supported them.

The musicians stand against the plans of the authorities to restrict street performance.

Sergei Mitrokhin claim that the main reason for the persecution is “the soviet approach” of the officials to any entrepreneurship. “Do you remember where the freedom began during Perestroyka and the people felt it? It was when street musicians appeared and nobody drove them off. It’s symbolic that today the street musicians are being persecuted, it means that the authorities want to do away with freedom,” he said.

Within the last weeks of spring and the beginning of summer 2015 a number of detention of street musicians on behalf of police has increased, they are accused under articles that have been used only against political activists before.

On May 30, Andrei Matveyev was detained in Nikolskaya Street, his musical instruments were illegally withdrawn, later the court imposed a ten thousand roubles fine for him under the article 20.2.1 (participation in unauthorised event). In the beginning of June eight musicians were detained in Arbat under “politcal article”, by the end of the month detentions spread over artists and underaged musicians, moreover, the latter were accused of illegal trade and their musical instruments were withdrawn.

“Mopping up of street musicians nearly destroy the cultural layer of Moscow, bringing down its attraction as a tourist centre. The Moscow authorities must support street musicians, artists and painters and mustn’t destroy the established cultural forms – a mark of a modern European city,” runs in the YABLOKO statement.

Hands off the music of streets