Sochi CPRF leader appeals to Putin on arrest of assistant of State Duma MP

Igor Vasiliev, the leader of the Sochi Branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), has addressed the reception office of President Vladimir Putin asking him to take action in connection with the placement of Alexei Goryachkin, an assistant of Sergey Obukhov, a State Duma MP, into a temporary detention facility (known as the IVS).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 29, after nearly a year of disputes with local authorities around the liquidation of a pedestrian road crossing in the settlement of Lazarevskoye, locals held a picket after notifying the administration of the city. Policemen dispersed the picket and detained the above Alexei Goryachkin. After the dispersal, Elena Nikitina, the organizer of the picket, was taken to hospital with a suspected stroke. On April 29, a Sochi court ruled to arrest Alexei Goryachkin for seven days finding him guilty of disobeying a policeman. Goryachkin finds the ruling linked with his political position.

According to Igor Vasiliev, the arrest of Alexei Goryachkin "was undertaken deliberately in order to prevent his public work and to hamper his participation in public actions related to celebrations of May 1 – the International Workers' Solidarity Day."

In his appeal to Russian President, he asks to immediately check the grounds and lawfulness of Goryachkin's arrest, and, should those in charge of violating his rights be established, to bring them to justice.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.