Russian media outlets reported May 25 that police in Yekaterinburg stormed an event hosted by the pro-democratic opposition party Yabloko (Apple), aimed at supporting political prisoners. The authorities reportedly detained 10 attendees, who have been subsequently released, with legal action against them by the prosecutor’s office now pending.
On May 20, the social-liberal party Yabloko announced that it would be hosting several so-called “evenings of letters,” for attendees to carry out correspondence with imprisoned individuals. The party reported that to date, 952 individuals in Russia have been imprisoned because of their political beliefs and affiliations.
During the event in Yekaterinburg, hosted in the party’s local office, Yabloko reported that 10 “masked men,” under the command of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, raided the venue and detained the participants, who were brought to a policed station in the Kirovsky district of Yekaterinburg. Among the detained was the chairman of the regional party branch, Maxim Petlin. During the raid, personal equipment and items such as cameras, phones and documents were seized.
After the raid, Petlin stated that “the police acted based on a denunciation from our political opponents; it is a great pity that such a practice is becoming a part of Yekaterinburg life.”
Pro-government media channel УРАЛLIVE (UralLive) alleged that the list of prisoners to whom the activists wrote “included real terrorists and radicals convicted of attempting a coup d’etat.” The channel reported that a member of the State Duma, Anatoly Wasserman, has called for “the prosecution of terrorist fans from Yekaterinburg,” outraged that such events are held during the “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Another media channel, run by the pro-Kremlin influencer Katyusha Ivanova, proclaimed in the aftermath of the raid that Yabloko figures are guilty of promoting “non-traditional relationships,” and welcomed the arrests, stating that the correspondence gatherings have turned into “a hotbed of ideological and moral rot.”
Yabloko expressly stated that the prisoners to whom the activists wrote “do not and cannot include citizens convicted of terrorism.”
Particularly since the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine, members of Yabloko have been prosecuted for anti-war positions. The current government actions underscore concerns raised in the UN Human Rights Council’s 2024 report on the deterioration of the human rights climate in Russia.
Similar “evenings of letters” are planned throughout major cities across Russia such as Moscow, Vladivostok and Chelyabinsk, and so far have not been cancelled despite the authorities’ intervention in Yekaterinburg.
From JURIST, May 27. Used with permission. Internal links added.
Note: “Non-traditional relationships” refers to LGBT practices, “promotion” of which is effectively criminalized in Russia.
See our last report on on resistance and repression in Russia.
Photo: Yabloko
