In Chita, three administrative cases were opened against the organizer of a rally against the city mayor

In Chita, three administrative cases were opened against Stanislav Zakharov, the organizer of a rally against the mayor of the city and the increase in fuel prices. He spoke about this on his Facebook page.

Zakharov is twice accused of violating the rules for holding a public event by the organizer (Part 1 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), the third protocol was drawn up under the article on organizing an event without filing a notification (Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses).

The reason for initiating two cases under parts 1 and 2 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses was a rally for the resignation of the mayor of the city, Anatoly Mikhalev, and against an increase in fuel prices, which took place in Chita on November 3. Zakharov notes that he coordinated the event with the city authorities in advance. However, the activist was accused of calling on citizens on social networks to come to the rally even before the authorities responded to the notification.

Zakharov states that he could not have coordinated the action at all, since Truda Square, where the event took place, is Hyde Park. OVD-Info does not know how accurate this information is: in March, several media outlets reported that the Chita administration plans to build a children's playground on the square. If the authorities carried out their plan, the square would lose its Hyde Park status, since the regional law on gatherings prohibits public events near children's playgrounds.

The second case under Part 1 of Art. 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses is associated with the flash mob rally against rising fuel prices “We are against gold fuel,” which also took place on November 3. Zakharov noted that before the action he drew up a memo in which he urged the participants of the action not to travel in a convoy, so that the event would not be considered a car rally. This document even appears in the case file.

Stanislav Zakharov believes that the three administrative cases are preparations for initiating a criminal case against him under the article on repeated violation of the procedure for holding a public event (Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code). This article also provides for up to five years of real time for those who were brought to administrative responsibility more than twice within 180 days under Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offences. According to Zakharov, the fact that the administrative files were compiled by an FSB officer also indicates that the authorities are preparing to initiate a criminal case.

UPD On November 21, Stanislav Zakharov was fined 20 thousand rubles and twice - 10 thousand.

• An article about repeated violations of the procedure for holding a public event appeared in 2014 after a wave of the protest movement. At the end of 2015, the court handed down the only verdict to date under Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code: civil activist Ildar Dadin was sentenced to three years in a maximum security colony, later the term was reduced to two and a half years.

The activist's defense argued that the article contradicts the Constitution. In 2017, Dadin’s sentence was overturned , but Article 212.1 of the Criminal Code was never edited.