According to Tatyana Frolova’s blog, the Voronezh Central District Court fined the opposition activists Alexander Boldyrev and her by 10 and 5 thousand rubles for participating in the action to commemorate journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was killed in 2006.
Activists claim that judge Elena Sakharova passed judgement in spite of the fact that the official who formalized the protocol on administrative and legal violations did not attend the meeting. The oppositionists complained that the meeting was held behind closed doors, without questioning the witnesses of the action.
According to the activists, they did not violate the rules for holding a public event, and found political component in the actions of the court and official who drafted the protocol.
"The black and brown flag [the symbol of the People's Liberation Movement] unexpectedly appeared near the monument to Pyatnitsky only a few minutes after we moved there, as our traditional place — on Nikitinskaya Square — was occupied by two representatives of the People's Liberation Movement. We distanced ourselves from the flag holder for a few dozen of meters, so that none of the passers-by would think that we were related to this strange symbol that belittled the dignity of the St. George ribbon and became, at least in our eyes, a symbol of intolerance towards the opposition," wrote Tatyana Frolova.
Voronezh activists held a rally in memory of "Novaya Gazeta" journalist Anna Politkovskaya on October 7, 11 years after her murder. The rallies were held in many Russian cities, but in some cities the local authorities did not coordinate the event.
The meeting was held in one of the city's hyde parks, so it was not necessary to apply for approval in advance. However, after the beginning of the rally, it turned out that all five sites for free meetings turned out to be "occupied" by the activists of the People's Liberation Movement, who announced holding their public event on October 7 from 7:00 to 22:00. Dmitry Krivenko, spokesman for the People's Liberation Movement, did not want to allow "all sorts of oppositionists to spoil President Putin's birthday". According to Frolova, the event was coordinated in the mayor's office. In the notification, it was designated as "counteraction to the destructive activity of the non-systemic opposition".
A similar case occurred in Ulyanovsk: activists of "Open Russia" were fined 20 and 10 thousand rubles for laying flowers at the monument to victims of political repression.
Ekaterina Bogdanova, «7x7»
