In Lipetsk, a city in western Russia, police officers visited the Communist Party office twice in two days.

On 31 July and 1 August in Lipetsk, a city in western Russia, police officers visited the office of the local Communist Party branch twice.

As reported by the Telegram channel of the Lipetsk party branch, in the evening on 31 July, officers from Centre “E” came to the office to inspect the premises and vehicles. The security forces seized templates of campaign leaflets for Communist Party candidates, data storage devices, the editing computer and the laptop of the chief editor of the “Lenin’s Banner” newspaper and Lipetsk Regional Council deputy Alyona Startseva.

“The main ‘catch’ for the security forces was a themed print run of the informational bulletin ‘Pravda,’ in which Lipetsk Communists justify their demands for the resignation of Governor Igor Artamonov, and provide information about the Victory Programme and the Communist Party’s People’s Referendum. The entire undistributed print run—about 70,000 copies—was seized,” the Communist Party noted.

The secretary of the Lipetsk Communist Party branch, Sergey Tokarev, believes that seizing the bulletin’s print run was the main reason for the Centre “E” officers’ visit.

The inspection lasted six hours. It was conducted based on a warrant which stated that “representatives of the Communist Party may be involved in organising mass disturbances and extremist activities aimed at overturning the state order and destabilising the political situation in the region.”

The Communist Party claims that because of the security forces’ visit, the development of campaign materials was “blocked.”

On the morning of 1 August, party members reported that Tokarev was being summoned to the police because of a meeting with voters that took place in one of the city’s courtyards on 30 July.

A few hours later, police officers visited the party office again. The reason for the visit was a complaint filed with police by an employee of the Lipetsk Region Ministry of Internal Policy relating to the same meeting with voters. It stated that Communist Party regional council deputies Sergey Tokarev and Anatoly Shkatov held an unsanctioned public event. Police took statements from both deputies.

6 August The head of the Communist Party’s faction in the Lipetsk regional council, Sergey Tokarev, was issued with a protocol for violating the rules for holding a rally (Art. 20.2 of the Administrative Code). Security forces considered the deputies’ meeting with voters to be an “unauthorised event.” This was reported by the Lipetsk regional party channel and noted by the “7×7” media outlet.

Police officers stated that after “analysing the deputies’ remarks” at the meeting, they concluded it was not in fact a conversation with voters.

“In their assessment, the police relied on the conclusions of Lipetsk regional council deputy chairperson Andrey Frolov (United Russia faction). The United Russia deputy’s response was included in the case materials,” the Communists stated.

8 August Sergey Tokarev was fined 25,000 roubles (US$270), reported the Telegram channel of the Lipetsk Communist Party regional committee.

13 August Yesterday, police again visited the Lipetsk Communist Party branch to deliver summonses to the head of the faction in the regional council, Sergey Tokarev, and his assistant, Aleksey Chaukin. This was reported on the party branch’s Telegram channel.

The reason for the security forces’ visit was a meeting with voters held on 5 August on 50 Years of NLMK Street.

“The meeting was held at the initiative of local residents. I spoke about the number of initiatives and draft laws which Communist Party deputies have submitted to the regional parliament. Naturally, we also discussed housing and utilities issues,” Sergey Tokarev told Kommersant.

According to him, the meeting was attended by staff from the regional Ministry of Security and United Russia city council candidate Aleksey Polyakov.

“Naturally, since the city council candidate was present, the topic of the upcoming elections came up as well. Now, apparently, a new administrative case is being opened because of this,” Sergey Tokarev believes.

Today, the Communist Party member must appear at the police to familiarise himself with the case file “regarding the organisation of a public event.” Tokarev stated that, under pressure from security forces, the Communist Party branch had suspended all meetings with voters to “sort out the situation from a legal standpoint.”

“It’s clear that this is political retribution, that’s all,” he added.

25 August The Oktyabrsky District Court, Lipetsk, fined the head of the Communist Party faction in the regional council, Sergey Tokarev, 25,000 roubles (US$270). This was reported on the Telegram channel of the Lipetsk Communist Party regional committee, and noted by the “7×7” news outlet.

Tokarev was charged with violating the rules for holding rallies (Art. 20.2 of the Administrative Code). The case was prompted by the meeting with local residents on 5 August.

“As it turned out, for the police to draw up a protocol, a statement with the phrase ‘demanded people vote for the Communist Party and spoke unflatteringly about the authorities’ was sufficient,” the Lipetsk Communist Party regional committee’s channel noted.

4 September A protocol for violating the rules on holding events (part 2, Art. 20.2 of the Administrative Code) was also drawn up against regional council deputy from the Communist Party, Anatoly Shkatov, reported the regional party branch.

The reason was the deputy’s meeting with local residents. Only five people attended this meeting.