Yeisk ex-deputy recognized as “involved” in the activities of an extremist organization

On the second attempt, the prosecutor's office succeeded in depriving Alexander Korovainy of his passive electoral right.

On May 17, 2022, the Yeysk City Court satisfied the administrative claim of the inter-district prosecutor to recognize Alexander Korovainy, a member of Yabloko and ex-deputy of the Yeysk District Council, as "involved" in the activities of the Navalny Headquarters extremist organization.

The court agreed with the prosecutor, who claimed that Korovainy was involved in Navalny’s headquarters, because in January 2021 he went to a protest rally in support of Navalny, and also photographed activists at solo pickets.

The local politician himself denies organizational, advisory, financial and any other connection with Navalny's headquarters. In his opinion, recognizing him as "involved" in an extremist organization is connected with the elections to the Council of Deputies of the Yeisk District scheduled for September 2022. Earlier, he also stated that he was present at the rally in support of Navalny as a correspondent for the Kubanovosti publication.

In September 2021, the prosecutor’s office already tried to remove Korovainy from the elections for participating in a rally, as well as publishing two videos in support of Navalny. However, the court then dismissed the claim.

The Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), the Foundation for the Protection of Citizens' Rights (FZPG) and the headquarters of Alexei Navalny were recognized as extremist organizations on June 9, 2021. The decision to ban came into force on 4 August. We believe that there are no sufficient legal grounds for banning Navalny's organizations as extremist. You can read more about our position here . We also believe that the amendments prohibiting those "involved" in the activities of extremist organizations from participating in elections unduly restrict freedom of association.

Sources

• The court in Yeysk banned the ex-deputy Korovainy from participating in elections // Caucasus.Realities. May 18, 2022
• Case card No. 2a-946/2022 ~ M-567/2022 // Website of the Yeysk City Court. May 18, 2022