CPRF denies any involvement in spontaneous rally of pensioners in Sochi

In Sochi, the police search for the organizers of the unsanctioned rally of pensioners. However, according to Igor Vasiliev, the leader of local Communists, the suspicions that the rally was organized by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) are groundless.

On January 15, in Sochi, more than 100 pensioners blocked Gorky Street near the building of the Sochi Mayor's Office. They demanded to return to them preferential public transport fares. Besides, they wanted to meet Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov. The Mayor has come out of the building to meet the protestors. He has reported that the Sochi budget is short of funds to provide preferential public transport fares and that the very problem is to be considered by the regional authorities.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that today, in Sochi, the CPRF is to hold the sanctioned rally devoted to the protection of the rights of pensioners. The Sochi Mayor has called on city residents to ignore the protest action.

Prior to the start of the rally, Igor Vasiliev, the leader of the local Communists, has told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the Sochi branch of the CPRF does not hold unsanctioned rallies. According to Igor Vasiliev, he has pointed to that fact to the chief of the Sochi UVD (Interior Department), when he was summoned to his office for a conversation concerning the unsanctioned rally of the pensioners.

"We act in strict accordance with the laws only, and we have nothing in common with the unauthorized rally of the pensioners. We believe that in fact, the rally was provoked by the very Sochi authorities, since no rally would take place in case if they would have maintained the benefits for the needy," Igor Vasiliev has noted.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.