Hunger-strikers in Astrakhan are now 12 in number

In Astrakhan, the termless hunger strike in protest against the outcomes of the March 4 presidential election, started on March 15, continues. The number of the participants of the protest action is now 12.

The hunger-strikers are Oleg Shein, the leader of the regional branch of the political party "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia); the members of the territorial election commission (TEC) of the Kirov District of Astrakhan with advisory votes and Sergey Chaplygin and Sergey Kozhanov; the observers of the Precinct Election Commission (PEC) Alexander Kirpichenko and Svetlana Lezhnyova; Yaroslav Savin, the confidant of the former candidate to the City Duma Mikhail Doliev; the authorized representative of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" Party in the Narimanov District Dmitry Volkov, the PEC members with advisory votes Khamza Ismukhanov, Valentina Kukushkina and Valentina Vasilyeva; Elena Grebenyuk, the chair of the Audit Commission of the Astrakhan Branch of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" Party; and the voter Alexander Vinnikov.

On March 15, the protesters handed their statement over to the members of the Regional Election Commission. According to the authors of the statement, "the falsifiers of the December 2011 elections, while feeling their full impunity and immunity, transformed the united day of voting – March 4, 2012, – into a continuous series of violations of the electoral legislation."