Press Release, 16.10.2019

Daria Bolshakova, member of the Yabloko party and activist of the Kaliningrad branch of the Russian Feminist Association ONA, was found guilty of organising a mass rally without notifying the authorities (Article 20.2 Part 2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), having awarded her a fine of 10,000 roubles. Daria Bolshakova and her defenders plan to appeal the decision.

Other participants of one-person pickets (that do not require any notifications in accordance with the Russian law) of solidarity in support of political prisoners of the so-called “Moscow riots case” and for fair elections in Moscow, which took place in Kaliningrad on 3 August, are accused of participating in an uncoordinated mass event (Article 20.2 Part 5).

According to Igor Pleshkov, Chairman of the Kaliningrad branch of Yabloko, and lawyer Maria Bonzler, the unlawful decision on Bolshakova should be reversed, as there was no offense at a one-person picket on 3 August.

It should be noted that officer of the Centre for Counteraction to Extremism, who photographed the picketers, presented photographs at the trial, in fact, confirming that the one-person pickets were held in full compliance with the rules for such actions. This was confirmed by witnesses of the action. However, the court took as evidence the disc with the Safe City cameras, screenshots from the activists’ pages with announcements of planned single pickets, and screenshots of photos from cameras with some arrows.

One-person pickets in support of the prisoners of the “Moscow riots case”, in which about ten people took part, were held in Kaliningrad on 3 August, 2019. According to the participants of the pickets and witnesses, the pickets were held in full compliance with the rules for one-person pickets that do not require coordination with the authorities. The policemen who approached the picketers on this day did not make any comments on the organisation and did not draw up protocols. However, on 18 September, they suddenly changed their minds.