Statement of the Council for development of institutions of civil society and human rights with the President of the Russian Federation in connection with a hunger strike of protest against the results of municipal election in Astrakhan

The Council considers it necessary to draw attention of all the branches of government, first of all, Central Election Committee and Prosecutor General’s of the Russian Federation, to flagrant neglect towards legal regulations manifested during municipal election in Astrakhan. Neither moral or legal principles nor reasons of political expedience allow anyone to ignore reports of mass violations of the citizens’ electoral rights which forced the people to resort to such an extreme measure of nonviolent resistance to protect their legal interests as a hunger strike.  

Certainly, situations like this not in the least help facilitate the authorities. On the contrary, they undermine the prestige of state institutions, credence to supremacy of law for legal cynicism of bodies of power is the main and most hazardous source of the population’s legal nihilism. The sooner all the levels of authority realize that the use of violence against free expression of popular will never solves but just creates problems, the more realistic will be achievement of the goals of complex political reform.

The present statement is adopted at the session of the Council on March, 22, 2012. It was supported (including absentee voting) by: Svetlana Aivazova, Lev Ambinder, Sergey Vorobiev, Svetlana Gannushkina, Alexey Golovan, Valentin Gefter, Yury Djibladze, Daniel Dondurey, Kirill Kabanov, Sergey Karaganov, Boris Kravchenko, Sergey Krivenko, Tatiana Maleva, Dmitry Oreshkin, Emil Paiyn, Elena Panfilova, Boris Pustyntsev, Sergey Tsyplenkov, Igor Yurgens.

M. Fedotov,

Chairman of the Council for development of institutions of civil society and human rights with the President of the Russian Federation

March, 25, 2012