The Higher School of Economics denies that they put pressure on the resigned researcher from Navalny’s supporters

The press service of the Higher School of Economics (HSE) told RIA Novosti that the university administration did not put pressure on Elena Sirotkina, an employee of the Laboratory for Comparative Social Research, who resigned. At university, she researched activists, including supporters of Alexei Navalny.

The university believes that “ethical issues” have arisen regarding Sirotkina’s research. For example, there was a question about “assessing the likelihood of using violence to protect one’s rights.”

“As a result, this and many other formulations in the survey required a separate discussion, which was proposed to Elena. We don’t think that a request for a description of the study and an offer to discuss it can be regarded as pressure and is worth resigning,” the press service noted.

On June 13, Sirotkina said that she resigned under pressure from Vice-Rector Valeria Kasamara, who is participating in elections to the Moscow City Duma. According to the political scientist, pressure was put on him precisely because of the research about activists.

At the beginning of June, Associate Professor of the HSE Department of Political Science Alexander Kynev announced that the university management decided to merge his department with the Department of State and Municipal Administration. The Insider wrote that instead of them, political scientists associated with the presidential administration will come to the university.