Sochi resident holds solo picket demanding dismissal of City Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov

A solo picket, demanding dismissal of Anatoly Pakhomov, City Mayor, was held in front of the Sochi administration. According to Irina Brovkina, who held the picket, about 500 signatures of citizens for the dismissal of the Mayor were collected.

"I came out with a poster reading: 'Pakhomov to be dismissed! Signature Collection!' I managed to collect about 500 signatures. People left their signatures with pleasure. They told me their stories and left their addresses. People expressed their willingness to participate in actions", the "Caucasian Knot" was told by Irina Brovkina.

According to her, while at the picket, she was approached by policemen and asked to go with them to the police station. "I refused. Then, another policeman came up and asked me to write an explanation letter. He wrote it, and I signed it. When asked, on what grounds he did that, the policeman did not answer," said the organizer of the picket.

According to lawyer Alexander Popkov, the actions of the policeman, who demanded explanations from Irina Brovkina, can be treated as abuse of power. "To take explanations from a citizen, grounds are necessary. The policeman mentioned no grounds," he has stressed.

According to Irina Brovkina, after she refused to leave the square, representatives of the "Megafon" Company appeared, and Evgeny Kuzhelev, the staff member of the city administration, demanded that she should remove her poster, since a planned action of the "Megaphone" Company took place.

Irina Brovkina explained that the decision on holding the solo picket on May 17, starting from 10:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m., was made after receiving refusal to hold a protest action in the square in front of the City Mayoralty.