In Kazan, security forces came to search the home of sociologist Iskander Yasaveev as part of a case on mass riots (Article 212 of the Criminal Code) related to the "extremist" "Artpodgotovka". The sociologist himself told OVD-Info about this.
The security forces reported that they were conducting a search in connection with a case of calls for mass riots (Part 3 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code), initiated in 2018 against members of the Artpodgotovka movement. The sociologist's status in this case is still unknown. His phone, laptop, and Russian passport were seized. Yasaveev believes that the search was a pretext to gain access to his phone and find a reason for further persecution.
In October 2022, the Ministry of Justice added Yasaveev to the list of "foreign agents." Soon after, he was fired from the Kazan branch of the National Research University Higher School of Economics. The sociologist suggests that it was his inclusion in the register that became the real reason for his dismissal.
- In August 2022, Yasaveev and other journalists who previously worked for Idel.Realii were searched as part of a case on justifying terrorism, which was opened because of a video of the Russian ambassador to Poland being doused with paint. The sociologist, like other journalists, are witnesses in the case.
- In addition, Yasaveev was prosecuted several times under administrative articles.
- The Artpodgotovka movement, headed by Vyacheslav Maltsev, was recognized as “extremist ” on October 26, 2017. On November 5, 2017, Maltsev’s supporters took to the streets in various cities across Russia, as he promised that a revolution would occur on that day. In total, according to OVD-Info, following the “revolution,” cases were opened against at least 35 people in 10 cities, including under terrorist articles.