Chronicle of current events

May 19–23

Chairman of the Human Rights Center "Memorial" Alexander Cherkasov in the Zamoskvoretsky court on May 23, 2014 /Photo: Yuri Martyanov /Kommersant

May 20, Tuesday

The State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill providing for criminal liability, up to five years in prison for participating in protests. The document proposed by the deputy Sidyakin enters in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation Art. 212. 1 (“Repeated violation of the established procedure for the organization or holding a meeting, rally”). Citizens who have previously been punished administratively for participation in protests more than two times in 180 days will be brought to criminal liability.

May 21, Wednesday

The Moscow City Hall agreed on a rally of Strategy-31 on Triumphal Square. Since 2009, officials dozens of times under various pretexts refused the organizers to hold the action in support of Art. 31 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, guaranteeing freedom of processions and meetings. The last action on March 31 was held under the slogan "Donbass and Kharkov - in Russia." Observers associate the decision of the Moscow City Hall to allow the action of “Strategy 31” with the support of its leader Eduard Limonov Putin’s policy in Ukraine.

May 22, Thursday

Employees of the RF IC searches at home with supporters of Alexei Navalny: the municipal deputy Konstantin Yankauskas and entrepreneur Nikolai Lyaskin from Nikolai Lyaskin took a recognizance not to leave. Searches were also held in the Yandex.Money office. Representatives of the UK say that the searches are connected with the criminal case of fraud in the 2013 mayor of Moscow. Observers call another reason: Nikolai Lyaskin and Konstantin Yankauskas are going to participate in the elections to the Moscow City Duma in September and searches - an attempt to discredit and scare them.

May 23, Friday

Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow refused the human rights center (PC) "Memorial" in the complaint. The organization disputed the demand of the prosecutor's office that, in accordance with the Law on NPO Memorial, should register in the register of “foreign agents”.

According to the prosecutor's office, from 11/23/2012 to 03/18/2013, the Memorial PC received from foreign sources at least 23,750,000 rubles. Part of this money was spent on the implementation of the OVD-Info project-monitoring of "politically-motivated persecution and detentions in the Russian Federation."

PC "Memorial" appeals the decision of the Zamoskvoretsky court in the Moscow City Court.