Press release, 22.05.2014

Investigators have just completed a search in the Moscow headquarters of the YABLOKO party and took away a personal computer. The search was conducted within a criminal case raised under Article 298.1 of the Criminal Code “Slander Against the Judge”. The case was initiated against the Andrei Rudomakha, ex-Chair of the Krasnodar branch of YABLOKO. Sergei Mitrokhin was brought into the case as a witness and interrogated yesterday.

In October 2012, a press release was published on YABLOKO web-site where unlawful arrest of YABLOKO member Alexei Mandrigelya was described as follows: “Elena Zolotukhina is known as a judge exercising arbitrary rule and readily implementing the orders of the authorities on issuing unlawful decisions. The sentence to Alexei Mandrigelya confirms this,” he said.”

The investigators decided that “he” was Andrei Rudomakha mentioned earlier in the text. However, Sergei Mitrokhin said that he had been the author of the words, as there had been a technical error in the party website. The investigator impounded a computer which had been allegedly used in publishing the press release.

“I can see here a political order of Krasnodar Governor Alexander Tkachyov, who has been settling scores with his opponents – local activists and members of the YABLOKO party. Environmentalist Yevgeny Vitishko was jailed for making an inscription on the fence, which he did not write. We know that the law enforcement are under tough regional authorities’ control. And finally they got at us. For the first time in the 20-year history of the YABLOKO party our office has been searched,” Sergei Mitrokhin said.

Yesterday YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin was interrogated in the Zamoskvoretsky Investigation Department as a witness in the trial on Andrei Rudomakha, ex Chair of the Krasnodar branch of YABLOKO “for libel against a judge”. The interrogation was held by senior investigator Sergei Smirnov.