Russia: Hands off Penza communist Albert Gerasimov!

By United Communist Party

The police have opened a criminal case against Albert Gerasimov, an activist of the Penza branch of the United Communist Party (OKP), who gained notoriety after writing “remove the fence” near the house of Governor Ivan Belozertsev.  

Albert Gerasimov Photo: OKP

In April 2020, Comrade Gerasimov wrote on the fence in front of the cottage of the governor of the Penza Region Ivan Belozertsev: “Belozertsev, remove the fence!!! This is a public road. ” He believes that the fence illegally occupies municipal land and the roadway of Lazo Street. 

After that, he was summoned to the police station and a report was drawn up for posting on social media about the presidential elections in the Russian Federation in 2018 with a historical photograph of Adolf Hitler at the Olympic Games, taken in 1936. The court then fined the OKP activist 3,000 rubles for “propaganda of Nazi symbols.” On April 22, two unknown assailants attacked Gerasimov and splashed him with paint. Albert detained one of them and handed him over to the police officers who arrived. The police refused to open a criminal case against the attacker, since they did not consider his actions to be a crime.

 

And so, on September 14, the day after the gubernatorial elections in the Penza region, on the eve of the birthday of the governor, Comrade Gerasimov was summoned to the police station. There, the investigator informed Albert that he is a suspect under Article 117 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Torture”). The OKP activist faces up to three years in prison. 

 

The case, as it turned out, was opened back in August, and the accuser was the detained man whom Albert took to the police station on April 22, after Comrade Gerasimov was doused with paint. As it turned out, the accuser’s statement noted that he was attacked and beaten by an unknown man. It is surprising that after almost 5 months this unknown person was identified — as our Comrade Albert Gerasimov.

 

The Presidium of the Central Committee of the OKP believes that this case is revenge on our comrade, as well as an attempt to pressure and intimidate political activists of the Penza region. We strongly protest against the fabrication of a fictitious criminal case — the Gerasimov case, and any other political case! Freedom for political prisoners!

 

Source

Translated by Greg Butterfield