Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported the arrests of two Russians who challenged September’s parliamentary vote on drug charges, alongside allegations that one was abused and the other suffered a double fracture.
AFP said critics viewed the arrests as intimidation tied to the election. The agency also reported that September’s vote left United Russia with a supermajority; the party is backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Environmental activist Dmitry Morozov, 27, has spent more than 10 years working to preserve parks and woodland near Izhevsk. After the vote, he posted Telegram videos alleging ballots had been stuffed in United Russia’s favor. The city rejected his request for a demonstration, citing possible risks from crowds near a monument in the square, AFP reported.
The FSB said a search of Morozov’s parents’ apartment yielded 1.38 grams of a synthetic drug. His partner, Darya Bagina, said Morozov was beaten, shocked with electricity and hung upside down while his captors tried to force a confession. Morozov has said he is innocent.
Denis Varlamov, Morozov’s lawyer, said defendants in similar drug cases typically receive suspended sentences. He argued that political considerations explained Morozov’s immediate detention.
At the end of September, political scientist Alexander Kynev, 51, alleged United Russia’s actual vote share and turnout were far below official totals. He was arrested in Moscow two days later and accused of large-scale drug trafficking.
Kynev separately accused the security services of beating him during his arrest. At a video appearance before a Moscow court, he said he had suffered a double fracture and appeared with his leg in a cast. AFP reported that a conviction could bring a 20-year prison sentence.
Kynev’s lawyer, Mikhail Biryukov, told AFP that the political scientist spent time in a cell with 35 people and a floor-level hole for a toilet. Biryukov said Kynev’s cast made those facilities impossible to use. Supporters had publicized his situation online, and his lawyer said he stopped eating in late October. A later transfer left Kynev in a cell with four other inmates and a regular toilet, according to Biryukov.
AFP also cited rights groups’ count of 20 or more people detained in connection with the election; observers and opposition candidates made up most of the total.
