Yasaveev Iskender Gabdrakhmanovich

A series of searches were conducted in Kazan on August 17 and September 9, 2022, in connection with a case of public justification of terrorism. The case was opened due to a video titled 'Paint and a booth for the Russian ambassador to Poland,' published on the YouTube channel 'Ob'yektiv-TV.' Raids were conducted in August at the homes of at least nine residents of Kazan - journalists who collaborated with the publication "Idel.Realii" and "Radio Azatliq", as well as their relatives. On November 18, the Sovetsky District Court of Kazan issued an in absentia arrest warrant for Idel.Realii journalist Andrei Grigoryev as a suspect in the case. On December 1, searches were conducted in the apartments of journalist Naila Mullayeva and activist Elina Yasunova as part of the same case. The video 'Paint and a booth for the Russian ambassador to Poland' contains a video recording of an incident that occurred on May 9 with the Russian ambassador to Russia, Sergey Andreev. Then protesters against the military actions in Ukraine splashed red paint on the ambassador. The video also includes footage from protest actions outside the Russian embassy in Warsaw, along with accompanying commentary. On August 16, 2024, in Kazan, a search was conducted at the home of sociologist and former lecturer at the Kazan branch of the Higher School of Economics Iskander Yasaveev and former journalist of Vechernaya Kazan Aislu Kadyrova. All their equipment was confiscated, and Yasaveev's passport was also taken away. A search was conducted as part of a criminal case on 'mass riots' opened in 2018, related to 'Artpodgotovka'. According to the investigation, the journalist "propagated revolutionary ideas and attempted to organize mass riots to violently change the constitutional order of the Russian Federation" together with participants of the "Artpodgotovka" movement. Law enforcement officers also claim that Kadyrov is helped to hide from the investigation by the Kazan activist of "Artpodgotovka" Albert Muratov." "The journalist herself stated that she knows nothing about Muratov and the movement as a whole. It is not specified in what capacity Kadyrova is involved in the case. Yasaveev suggested that the search was a pretext to gain access to his phone and find a reason for further persecution.