Obninsk human rights activist Tatyana Kotlyar, known for criminal cases involving “rubber apartments,” was almost completely prohibited from registering people in her living quarters. This was reported by the human rights project “First Department”.
This decision was made by the Obninsk City Court in connection with an appeal from the prosecutor's office. The supervisory agency asked to completely prohibit her from registering people in her apartments, but the court only partially satisfied this demand. Now Kotlyar can register no more than six people in one of his apartments, and no more than five in the second.
Human rights activist and head of the Kaluga branch of “For Human Rights” Tatyana Kotlyar is known for regularly registering in her apartment Russians, visitors and refugees who do not have the opportunity to obtain a residence permit. In this regard, she has already been tried six times under the criminal article on fictitious registration of citizens of the Russian Federation or foreigners (Article 322.2 of the Criminal Code). The last time - in the summer of 2023 - she was fined 600 thousand rubles in such a case.
In its request to ban Kotlyar from registering people, the prosecutor's office said that her "criminal activities" violate Russia's national security interests. The publication “Caution, News” writes that according to the prosecutor at the trial, over the past 15 years Kotlyar has registered 10,593 people in her apartments. The First Department stated that the prosecutor’s demand is unlawful, and the grounds for the claim are far-fetched and do not meet the goals of civil proceedings.
“Kotlyar’s activities are directly related to systemic problems in the field of migration registration in Russia. To legally live on the territory of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens and stateless persons need formal registration. The practice of the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not take into account that such persons may not have the funds to rent or purchase real estate. This deprives them of the legal status of staying in the Russian Federation, which does not correspond to respect for human dignity,” the “First Department” quotes lawyer Maxim Olenichev as saying.
Earlier, Tatyana Kotlyar herself told OVD-Info about why she helps people who do not have registration: “I am a human rights activist, and people turn to me because their rights are constantly being violated, including Russian citizens who live without the opportunity to register legally basis. These are not necessarily migrants; they could very well be a native of the Kaluga region who lost their housing, or a former prisoner who was released and found out that he has nowhere to live. Due to the lack of a stamp in their passport, their rights are constantly violated. Both civil and social.”
- In July 2022, the European Court of Human Rights awarded Tatiana Kotlyar six thousand euros in compensation in connection with her criminal prosecutions.
- In October 2018, Radio Liberty released Yulia Vishnevets’ film “Rubber Apartment.” It tells the story not only of Tatyana Kotlyar herself, but also of those whom she helps: Armenian Diana Tigranyan cannot enroll her children in school without registration, and Ukrainian refugee Igor Rebrov needed registration after three months of captivity in the DPR.