Opposition Russian United Democratic Party “Yabloko (Apple)” member and environmental activist Suren Gazaryan was detained in Gelendzhik, Russia. He is suspected of attacking a security personnel member during a demonstration in Divnomorskoye, Vedomosti informs.    

“Yabloko” leader Sergey Mitrokhin stated that the activist was taken under custody unlawfully. “Gazaryan is a legislative assembly MP candidate. They have no right to detain him without the prosecutor’s sanction,” he said.

Separately, environmental movement leader Evgeny Chichikov expressed a view that Gazaryan’s arrest is linked with his nomination. “Suren is the leader of ‘Yabloko’s’ list for the October 14 elections. They are afraid of his nomination,” he said.    

And after being released from the Police precinct, Gazaryan confirmed that a criminal lawsuit is launched against him, and on charges of murder threat. “The security personnel wrote that I had threatened them, thrown stones, [and] dealt a psychological blow [to them],” Suren Gazaryan wrote in his Twitter account.