Investigative Committee officers opened a criminal case against a Khabarovsk activist for a picket in support of Furgal

Khabarovsk activist Tatyana Lukyanova was detained after interrogation by the Investigative Committee, local blogger and her acquaintance Vladimir Gretchenko told RusNews . Lawyer from OVD-Info Vitaly Tykhta said that the woman is suspected of inciting hatred or enmity (Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code).

According to the defense lawyer, the reason for the criminal case was Lukyanova’s picket near the regional Palace of Friendship “Rus”, which she held on October 10 last year. Security forces claim that the activist shouted the slogans “10.10.2020 - we will not forget, we will not forgive”, “Furgal is innocent”, “Freedom for Furgal” and “Freedom for political prisoners”. Gretchenko published a video of the picket on his YouTube channel . Now this video is not there.

According to investigators, by going to the picket in support of Furgal, Lukyanova “expressed a negative attitude towards the actions of the court staff, the police, the prosecutor’s office and IK-6 of the Altai Territory.” According to Gretchenko, a search was carried out in the activist’s house, during which security forces confiscated the woman’s phone. The blogger says that they want to prevent Lukyanova from leaving Russia - she recently applied for a visa.

In the summer and fall of 2020, active mass protests took place in Khabarovsk in support of Sergei Furgal, the governor of the region, who was arrested on charges of contract killings of competitors in the 2000s and illegal acquisition of weapons. The trial of the politician took place in Moscow; in February 2023, he was sentenced to 22 years in a maximum security colony; he did not admit guilt.

In February 2022, the Khabarovsk Regional Court declared the “I/WE Sergei Furgal” movement extremist and banned it on Russian territory.