When the regional assembly of Russia's north-western Pskov region convenes on 24 September, it promises to be well-attended. Dmitry Gudkov, one of the Duma's few opposition politicians, Sergei Mitrokhin, leader of the Yabloko party, and a group of journalists from St Petersburg all plan to travel.
The reason? Item number five on the assembly's agenda: a motion to deprive Lev Shlosberg of his mandate, which would dismiss the Yabloko party politician from his position as deputy.
Rise to the fore
Shlosberg first became a politician on the national stage in December 2012, when he gave an impassioned speech against Russia's controversial ‘Dima Yakovlev law’ from the rostrum of the Pskov regional assembly. Though the assembly was about to approve the already ratified law, Shlosberg called on colleagues to ‘refrain from participating in this cruelty.’ ‘Anybody who votes for this law,’ Shlosberg continued, ‘is culpable in the possible death of a child who cannot be cured by the Russian healthcare system.’
