Half of those punished for rallies in Kalmykia are pensioners

Nine out of twenty activists found guilty of taking part in non-sanctioned protest actions held in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, are pensioners, who stated that they are unable to pay the awarded fines.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that protests in Elista were provoked by the appointment on September 26 of Dmitry Trapeznikov as the temporary head of the city; in 2018, he headed the unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic. After first rallies, they began trying activists; and in most cases, judges imposed fines on them.

In total, as the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent found out, 20 people were punished for participating in Elista protests; of them, nine are people of retirement age or those who are about to retire.

"Anger is boiling in me more and more from this situation. Pensioners are fined by tens of thousands roubles, although they know very well how people live, and still do it," activist Semyon Ateev told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

Arkady Goryaev, a pensioner, who was fined by 10,000 roubles for participating in the rally on October 27, has stated that his pension is 8300 roubles, his wife’s one – 12,000 roubles. "We’ll have to starve for several months. But we need to pay utility bills. The state is merciless and cynical; they deliberately fine pensioners by such fines, forcing us to starve to death. How else can you explain such huge fines? After all, they know that we are pensioners, and they know the size of our pensions," Mr Goryaev has concluded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 16, 2020 at 09:30 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.