Leonid sentenced for demonstrating dressed as Santa Claus

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Dressed as Santa Claus, Leonid protested that mayors in Russia are no longer directly elected by the citizens.

Now he has been punished twice – because the beard hid his face.

– This is totally absurd, says Leonid.

Before this year’s mayoral election in Russian Uchta, one of the residents, Leonid Laritjev, wanted to draw attention to the fact that the city’s mayor is not directly elected by the citizens. Instead, the post is filled by the politicians in the city council.

When he dressed up as Santa Claus – or actually Father Frost, as he is called in Russia – carried out several one-man demonstrations with protest placards, the police struck. Now the local court has sentenced Leonid for twice breaking the rules of one-man demonstrations, as his face was partially hidden by the Santa beard.

“Totally absurd”

According to judge Vitaly Utyansky, Leonid had used a “mask” to make it difficult to identify him.

– This is totally absurd. When the police came, I showed my face and my ID card, says Leonid Laritjev to the newspaper Barents Observer.

He intends to appeal the two fines totaling 20,000 rubles – about 2,000 kroner.

– I am not against the members of the city council choosing the mayor. If they were responsible, independent and popular – why couldn’t they elect mayors instead of the people? But the question is, how are they chosen themselves? says Leonid.

The city council of Ukhta has recently appointed Magomed Osmanov, who belongs to Putin’s ruling United Russia party, as the new mayor of the city.

Nowadays, hardly any cities in Russia have direct elections for the office of mayor. In October, the city council in Siberian Yakutsk proposed that direct elections be abolished there as well, because it “reduces the city’s costs”.