Hands off the Constitution!

Five activists of the Yabloko party and the United Front, led by the leader of the St. Petersburg branch of the Yabloko party, Maxim Reznik, were detained on December 10 in St. Petersburg during a picket against the adoption by the city Legislative Assembly of amendments to the Constitution extending the term of office of the president and parliament.

About 10 people took part in the picket - activists of Yabloko, UCF, Defense and RNDS. In addition to Reznik, UCF member Denis Vasilyev and members of the youth Yabloko party Alexander Gudimov, Ekaterina Alimova and Polina Strongina were detained. They are in the 2nd police station for holding an unauthorized rally. Yabloko had previously applied for this action several times, but was refused.

The picketers only managed to stretch out a 10-meter-long banner “Hands off the Constitution!” and another with an image of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his statement when he was president: “Brains need to be changed, not the Constitution,” how the police appeared.

Well, the Legislative Assembly, of course, obediently approved the amendments, according to which the Russian President will remain in office for six years, and the Duma will sit for five years.

On the same day, the Saratov Regional Duma adopted similar amendments - only two deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation voted against. In Saratov, the youth Yabloko also held a protest, ten people were detained.