In the early hours of 9 May, the Moscow police searched the homes of several activists, human rights advocates and reporters, OVD-Info, a Russian human rights group that monitors political arrests, stated.
Police searched the home of public defender Timofey Vaskin. A lawyer was not allowed to enter his home. The reasons for the search are unclear.
Another search was carried out in the home of former employee of Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation Ivan Drobotov. Head of the Alliance of Teachers Daniil Ken said that Drobotov is currently serving a 20-day sentence in prison for repeated violation of public assembly rules. Drobotov was brought into his home for the search, and later transported back to the detention facility. Reportedly, Drobotov is facing criminal charges for working for an NGO that “infringes upon the personal rights and freedoms of citizens.”
The home of activist Daria Pak was also searched by police overnight in relation to the criminal case against the St. Petersburg movement “Vesna” (creation of an NGO that infringes upon the personal rights and freedoms of citizens). Pak herself was not in the apartment, as she had left Russia. Her mother was present during the search.
Avtozak LIVE Telegram channel also reported that a search was carried out in the home of Angelina Roshchupko, a reporter with Skat media. She is currently in custody of Russia’s Investigative Committee. The reasons for the search are unknown.
Activist Palladya Bashurova was also detained in a St. Petersburg bar. She is currently in police custody.
Yesterday, activist Roman Maksimov was detained in Russia’s Veliky Novgorod and transported to Moscow for interrogation over the Vesna case. Activists Yevgeny Zateev and Valentin Khoroshenin were also detained in relation to the case.
