YOUNG YABLOKO LEADER IVAN BOLSHAKOV DETAINED AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000990 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/10/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR SOCI RS SUBJECT: YOUNG YABLOKO LEADER IVAN BOLSHAKOV DETAINED AND QUESTIONED Classified By: Acting Political M/C Bob Patterson. Reason: 1.4(d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Ivan Bolshakov, leader of the Moscow branch of Young Yabloko, was detained by police on April 8 for four hours. He was questioned about his alleged assault on a policeman in May 2007, an incident he had been questioned on before without any criminal case filed against him. He was also questioned about allegedly false signatures on the nominating petition for his candidacy in the March 2 municipal council elections in Moscow for which he faces potential criminal charges. Bolshakov traces his legal problems to his participation in protests against unpopular construction projects in Moscow. End summary. Under a Watchful Eye -------------- ¶2. (C) On April 9, we met with Ivan Bolshakov, leader of the Moscow branch of Young Yabloko. On April 8, plain clothes militia detained him as he was exiting the metro. The militia told Bolshakov he was the subject of a federal search and took him to the local prosecutor's office, where he was questioned for about four hours. Two issues appear to be the immediate cause of his detention. ¶3. (C) In May 2007, Bolshakov and a group from Young Yabloko were protesting construction projects in the region of Moscow where he lives. The militia broke up this protest claiming it was illegal. According to the militia, during the attempt to break up the picket, Bolshakov broke the arm of one of the policemen. Although Bolshakov denies the charge and has seen no evidence against him, the militia has regularly detained him to question him about the incident. He told us that the charge was again raised during his questioning on April 8. ¶4. (C) Bolshakov's second problem stems from his attempt to run for a council seat in Yuzhnoye Butovo, one of the many municipal councils in Moscow. To secure a place on the ballot, Bolshakov collected sixty signatures. According to him, the local election commission questioned several of them, but he was able to prove that all were legitimate. However, on April 8, the prosecutor's office indicated to him that nine of the signatures were falsified, potentially a criminal offense. Bolshakov told us that no charges have been brought against him although he had to appear again for questioning on April 10. (Note: Bolshakov was not registered as a candidate for the March 2 local elections, although the reason he was not registered is unclear.) ¶5. (C) Bolshakov traced his ongoing problems to his efforts to impede efforts of developers, with the cooperation of corrupt officials, to illegally take title of buildings and evict the residents in order to profit from Moscow's real estate boom. Bolshakov thought the developers and bureaucrats who stand to benefit from such construction projects have arranged for his legal troubles. Biographical Note -------------- ¶6. (C) Bolshakov was born on October 20, 1984. Although only 23, he has been active in politics since first joining Yabloko five years ago. Unlike most other university students, he was very well dressed, carried a briefcase and had professional business cards. He was very well spoken and could discuss at length political science (his major in college) and the current status of Yabloko. He said he joined Yabloko to express his opposition to the conflict in Chechnya. His convictions took him to a protest in Belarus in April 2005 where he was arrested and sentenced to ten days in prison -- although he served only five. Since 2006 he has served as an assistant to Moscow Yabloko chairman Sergey Mitrokhin. He currently attends the International Independent Ecological-Political University (MNEPU). Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) The housing market in Moscow has been hot for the past several years with demand routinely outpacing supply, and stratospheric housing prices make construction extremely lucrative. Bolshakov's activism could well have irked many builders and the bureaucrats who profit from the development projects. In any event, the recent spate of arrests of Yabloko leaders (e.g., Maksim Reznik in St. Petersburg and Oleg Kochkin in Penza) suggest continuing efforts to intimidate the party's inconvenient political activists. RUSSELL