Police are looking for “extremist appeals” in leaflets distributed at AvtoVAZ

At the end of July 2007, the police department at the Volzhsky Automobile Plant began an investigation into the distribution of leaflets calling for a strike at the enterprise (the strike began on August 1, the workers demand higher wages). The head of the department, Sergei Kurshel, told Kommersant that the leaflets contain "extremist appeals" and fall under Art. 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Public calls for the implementation of extremist activities"). The check was started at the initiative of the police.

The organizer of the protest action, the chairman of the independent trade union "Unity" Petr Zolotarev claims that the leaflets do not contain any calls for extremist activity. According to Ekho Moskvy, they are dedicated to the standard of living of workers.

State Duma deputy Mikhail Markelov also did not find signs of extremism in the materials distributed at the plant: "There are no calls for the overthrow of the state system in these leaflets . "

We do not have access to the contents of the leaflets. However, we saw no signs of extremism in the texts cited on the site of the Unity trade union.

Let us recall that earlier in Moscow, under the pretext of checking for the presence of extremist materials, was confiscated . the circulation of the newspaper "Working Democracy", prepared for shipment to AvtoVAZ,

Sources

• P.Kaledin, E.Nikolaeva, E.Savina. A disruptive situation has developed at the VAZ // Businessman. 2007. July 31.
• Another trade union activist was detained at AvtoVAZ on the eve of the strike // Echo of Moscow. 2007. August 1st.