St. Petersburg Urban Preservation Activist and Legislative Assembly Candidate Arrested for 10 Days Over Instagram and Facebook Links in a 2021 Post

St. Petersburg urban preservation activist and Legislative Assembly candidate arrested for 10 days over Instagram and Facebook links in a 2021 post

As Mediazona reports, St. Petersburg's Leninsky District Court has jailed urban preservation activist Yaroslav Kostrov for 10 days under the article on displaying "extremist" symbols. The reason was a VK post of a 2021 campaign leaflet containing links to Instagram and Facebook and the logos of those social networks.

Kostrov was detained yesterday in St. Petersburg. He plans to run for the local Legislative Assembly from A Just Russia. The party had linked his detention to the fact that document submission to the election commission by single-mandate candidates "continues through July 18 inclusive." Kostrov himself, as Ostorozhno, Novosti writes, called his detention "lawlessness" and also linked the arrest to his intention to take part in the elections.

Once the arrest ruling takes effect, Kostrov will not be able to participate in elections as a candidate for a year, the outlet notes. Mediazona adds that his family is currently in Crimea, cats and fish were left at home, and he cannot hand over the keys.

🔵Earlier, St. Petersburg security forces also detained regional CPRF deputy Ivan Apostolevsky and urban preservation activist Oleg Mukhin. They were later arrested under the same article on displaying "extremist symbols."

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