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The Youth Democratic Movement Vesna is one of the first political drivers in Russia which began its anti-war campaign right after Russia had started the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then, Vesna has carried out 13 non-violent protests against the war and the mobilisation. Furthermore, the Movement has launched several anti-war projects.

As such, the Russian authorities decided to suspend the activities of the YDM Vesna.

1. The Vesna Case

Prior to the protest demonstration “They did not fight for this”, which had been scheduled by the movement Vesna for May 9, several coordinators, activists, former members of the movement, and even those who have never taken part in the movement’s activities faced police raids. At least 8 people have been arrested so far.

The Vesna case was instituted under Part 3 of Art. 239 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (establishment of an NGO that infringes rights and authority of a person). V. V. Gagarin leads the case. That is the investigator who led the case of the DOXA magazine. Those who are in the status of defendants under Part 3 of Art. 239 might face up to 2 years of imprisonment. 

So far, the defendants are:

— Evgeny Zateev and Valentin Khoroshenin. The court chose a preventive measure for them in the form of a ban on certain actions. They remain in Saint Petersburg;

— Angelina Roshchupko and Timofey Vaskin. Both of them are banned from doing certain actions as well. They remain in Moscow.

— Roman Maksimov, Ivan Drobotov, Bogdan Litvin, and Ekaterina Goncharova. They have left Russia.

Those activists who decided to stay in Russia are restricted from:

— Leaving their homes from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.;

— Communicating with witnesses, defendants, suspects in the case, and activists of the Vesna Movement;

— Attending events organised by the Vesna Movement;

— Receiving letters which were not sent by investigation or law enforcement agencies;

— Utilising any communication tools and the Internet unless these are needed to contact emergency services or investigators.  

2. Involvement in Mass Riots

On September 21, 2022, the YDM Vesna announced and carried out nationwide protests against the mobilisation. On September 23, the Vesna case was merged with the case under Part 1 of Art. 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (involvement in mass riots). 

On September 24, the police came with a search warrant to Valentin’s and Evgeny’s places. So far, other details of the new criminal proceeding remain unknown.

3. The Recognition of the YDM Vesna as a Foreign Agent Organisation

On October 6, the Ministry of Justice included a federal coordinator of the YDM Vesna, a defendant of the Vesna Case Bogdan Litivin and an activist of the Movement Timofei Martynenko in the list of foreign agent individuals.

After a while, on October 14, the Ministry of Justice put the YDM Vesna on the list of unregistered foreign agent entities.

4. The Recognition of the YDM Vesna as an Extremist Organisation 

On September 30, the Prosecution Office of Saint Petersburg demanded to declare (via legal action) YDM Vesna an extremist organisation due to the “destabilisation of socio-political conditions in the country and promotion of an opinion on the necessity to change the regime”. The process of recognition is likely to take several months. 

On October 11, the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of Russia included Vesna as an organisation in its list of extremists and terrorists. That results in limitations of Vesna’s financial activities, yet, it is neither a legal nor a de facto recognition of the YDM Vesna as an extremist organisation.

No doubts that the authorities attempt to eliminate the Vesna Movement and, eventually, halt the anti-war campaign and muzzle those who do not support the war.

Nevertheless, it is not a crime to be against the war. The Vesna Movement acts within the rights which are established in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the European Convention on Human Rights. These documents guarantee the freedom of thought, expression, and peaceful assembly.

Furthermore, Vesna has always advocated the protection of citizens’ rights. The prosecution is ridiculous and has nothing to do with reality. 

Our demands are:

— To close the Vesna case and bring to justice the investigators and the officers from the Centre for Combating Extremism which participates in hoaxing the case;

— To withdraw the lawsuit regarding the recognition of the YDM Vesna as an extremist entity and bring to justice those who insisted on its initiation;

— To reverse the recognition of the YDM Vesna and its activists Timofei Martynenko and Bogdan Litivin as foreign agents.

We urge you to share the information about the Vesna case and make donations to us.