Communists Raided

By Alec Luhn

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: August 21, 2009 (Issue # 1502)

ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) — Law enforcement agencies seized computers during a raid on the offices of the Communists of Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast late Tuesday night.

Agents from the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Kalininsky district in eastern St. Petersburg forced their way into the office of lawyer and municipal district deputy Yuri Savin, a part of which is rented by the Communists of Petersburg, seizing two computers and opening a safe and an archive of print materials, the communist organization announced on its website and in a press release.

The seized computers included information about members of the organization, candidates for government positions in the Leningrad Oblast and the activities of communist groups, Interfax reported Wednesday.

According to the release, the law enforcement agents said they were checking the legality of a housing transaction conducted by an employee of the legal consulting service.

The search was conducted under orders from the Investigative Committee of the St. Petersburg Prosecutor General’s Office and lasted from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., but members of the communist organization were not allowed back into the office until Wednesday morning, the press release also stated.

Attempts to reach the prosecutor general’s office and the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.

The communists announced they will file a complaint with the Prosecutor General’s Office for the “unjustified actions of the police” and seek damages in a lawsuit, as well as inform the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation and international election-monitoring organizations.

Savin often defends the Communists of St. Petersburg, according to the organization's web site, and has been reported to be a member of the group.