Evgeny Urlashov / S. Metelitsa / ITAR-TASS

The criminal case against Yaroslavl Mayor Yevgeny Urlashov appears to be primarily politically motivated. Regardless of his guilt, the mayor will be known as someone who is unfairly persecuted by the authorities. However, this image will not help the Civil Platform, whose list was supposed to be headed by Urlashov, in the upcoming elections to the regional Duma.

The mayor of Yaroslavl was detained at night on charges of extorting a bribe from an entrepreneur (see article on page 02). In the morning, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee (ICR) began vying with each other to inform the public that $500,000 had been confiscated during a search of the mayor's apartment, that no, not from the mayor, but from a neighbor, that the investigation had operational audio and video evidence (some of which was immediately published in the media), that one of the mayor's detained associates (they allegedly acted as a group) had made a deal with the investigation and was giving a confession, etc. The case was opened by Yaroslavl investigators, but the federal ICR quickly took over the case, and its press secretary Vladimir Markin issued an official statement justifying the mass publication of the investigation materials by the fact that "some political figures, without understanding the essence of the case, are trying to publicly put pressure on the investigation."

There was probably no such mass leak of information from law enforcement agencies even during the arrest of Makhachkala Mayor Said Amirov. This leak is apparently not considered pressure on anything by the Investigative Committee, but it shows that in this case, the most important thing is the image effect of initiating a case and arresting someone. On September 8, elections to the Duma of the Yaroslavl Region will be held. Urlashov was supposed to head the list of the "Civic Platform", he is a well-known critic of "United Russia", and recently even spoke at a city rally "against the party of crooks and thieves".

Urlashov came to the mayor's office a year ago under opposition slogans, having decisively defeated a representative of the ruling party.

A large group of observers from Moscow traveled to the elections in Yaroslavl – this was a consequence of the mass protests in the capital.

Given that an opposition mayor is an incredible rarity in modern Russia, and selective law enforcement and direct repression of those who are undesirable have become commonplace, Urlashov's case will be perceived in society to a large extent as unfair and will earn the mayor additional points as a truth-lover persecuted by the authorities. However, the Kremlin may be lying when it says that the security forces' active actions before the elections are not beneficial for the authorities' ratings.

In Yaroslavl, Urlashov's support may strengthen, but in the regions there may be the opposite effect, says political scientist Alexey Makarkin: in such cases, people often think that there is no smoke without fire. In addition, detention or even a written undertaking not to leave will objectively reduce the mayor's administrative resource in the upcoming campaign. If money was really seized, it could have been money for the campaign, and not necessarily of criminal origin. Accordingly, the financial support for the campaign may also sag.

In general, the authorities demonstrate that they do not want to allow even the possibility of an opposition victory in one of the subjects of the Federation. Many commentators cite as an analogy the defeat of A Just Russia (SR) in Stavropol after its victory in the elections to the regional parliament in 2007. The then mayor of Stavropol and the leader of the local SR, Dmitry Kuzmin, was eventually forced under pressure from law enforcement to emigrate to Austria.

From the editor: Yaroslavl cleanup