KHABAROVSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd July, 2020) Two leaders of the Khabarovsk regional committee of Russia's Communist Party, first secretary Petr Perevezentsev and head of the party's faction in the regional legislature Sergey Ilyin, will be prosecuted for organizing an unauthorized rally in Khabarovsk, the party's regional office told Sputnik on Wednesday.
On Friday, the Communist Party held an unauthorized rally in the center of Khabarovsk, which according to its organizers, is not related to the recent high-profile arrest of ex-governor Sergey Furgal. The participants gathered to demand respect for democratic rights, including freedom of speech, assembly and expression of will. Representatives of the party have repeatedly submitted applications to hold the rally to the mayor's office, but none of them was approved. The mayor's office instead warned organizers about responsibility for holding unauthorized rallies during the pandemic.
"Subpoenas were handed over to Ilyin and Perevezentsev, they must appear in the police, and then in court," a party representative told Sputnik.
Ilyin, in turn, told Sputnik that he received a subpoena on Friday and appeared in a police station at the specified time on Wednesday. Police officers drew up an administrative protocol and then Ilyin was immediately taken to court.
"The court hearing was not held, the case was postponed over an incomplete set of documents. The issue has been postponed until all matters are resolved. They charge me with the organization of the unauthorized rally, although we have notified the mayor's office in advance," he explained, adding that Perevezentsev is due to appear at the police station on Thursday.
Furgal, a 50-year-old businessman-turned-politician from the opposition Liberal-Democratic Party, was detained on July 9 for an alleged role in a string of killings in the 2000s. He is in custody in a Moscow prison and denies the charges. Rallies in support of Furgal, who is popular with the local residents, have been held in Khabarosk Territory since July 11. The Kremlin appointed lawmaker Sergey Degtyarev as the acting governor on Tuesday.
