Deputies chided StopHam for the raid near the State Duma

It is necessary to bring order to parking in Moscow, including near the walls of the State Duma, with the help of the competent authorities, and not with the methods used by StopKham activists. This opinion was expressed to ITAR-TASS by the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Construction, leader of the “Freedom of Choice” motorists movement, Vyacheslav Lysakov. He commented on another action that took place on Thursday, which was organized by movement activists who pasted their branded stickers on several cars parked in violation of the rules right on the roadway of Okhotny Ryad Street along the chain fencing the official parking of deputy cars.

Most likely, these were cars unrelated to the State Duma, the parliamentarian suggested. At the same time, he did not rule out that among the violators there could be those who were unable to get to the legal parking lot. In such rare cases, Lysakov himself parks his car in a paid parking lot. “I didn’t build here (on the roadway) because it’s wrong and shameful,” he said.

“Of course, they break the rules, there is no parking or stopping there,” the people’s representative confirmed. “But the regulatory authorities must restore order there.” “We are not law enforcement officers, this is not our question, we have enough work to do,” he explained.

“You can see a lot of such violations, from any side of the State Duma, but this does not mean that deputies should collectively address any issue,” believes the first deputy chairman of the committee. On the other hand, he recalled that any deputy has the right to make a request to the executive authorities.

As for the direct activities of the StopHam movement, Lysakov, while recognizing that in general activists pursue noble goals, nevertheless believes that they do not have the right to harm other people’s property as part of their activities. “I have seen their stories when they catch cars driving on the sidewalk, but I am categorically against encroachments on property,” the politician emphasized. He recalled that sticking stickers is “the same illegal act.”

“By calling for respect for the law, they themselves violate it,” the deputy continued. “In this case, they do not have the right to perform the functions of the traffic police - stopping, marking, and sticking stickers - in fact, this is petty hooliganism.”

“In a number of stories, they caught obvious boors, but if they do not want to break the law, they can record it on photo or video equipment, call the traffic police and be witnesses, this is enough to bring the driver of this vehicle to administrative responsibility,” recommended Lysakov. He said that at one time there was a website where violations committed by drivers were posted on video. Participants in this project “wrote statements to the prosecutor’s office, even sought punishment for the drivers of special vehicles,” the parliamentarian said, noting that “for this, everything had to be formalized correctly.”