Newsletters / Weekly Human Rights Report
Hello everyone! We hope you’re all having a great week. We’ve been busy as usual dealing with both criminal and administrative cases this week, and we thought we’d let you know what we’ve been up to.
This week has seen a significant turn of events in Russia as the government begins to go after opposition activists connected with Alexey Navalny. Your support helps us to help others who are caught up in this mess. All donations, no matter how big or small, can make a big difference in someone’s life.
March 26 Anti-Corruption Protester Remains in Custody
The Moscow City Court has decided to keep Alexei Politikov, a supporter of Vyacheslav Maltsev who is accused of assaulting a policeman on March 26, in custody. According to the lawyer Sergei Badamshin, the Judge, Tatyana Khrenova, rejected the defence’s arguments that milder measures of restraint should have been employed by police and supported the prosecutor, who asked to leave the detention order in force.
Alexey Politikov was detained on June 10 at the house of Vyacheslav Maltsev, just outside of Moscow. Politikov is believed to have been violent towards police captain Shvetsov during the anti-corruption demonstration on March 26. On the June 11, the Basmaniy District Court took Politikov into custody for two months.
Court Denies Appeal of June 12 Anti-Corruption Demonstrator
The Moscow City Court has rejected an appeal made by Mikhail Galyashkin’s lawyers and has left the 17 year old, who is accused of spraying pepper spray in to the eyes of a Rosgvardia officer at a rally on June 12, under house arrest. This information was provided by Open Russia lawyer, Sergei Badamshin, who is representing the interests of Galyashkin along with another lawyer, Salman Jafarov.
According to Badamshin, the court did not take into account the circumstances which would allow for a milder measure of restraint to be applied. We remind you that Mikhail Galyashkin was detained during an anti-corruption rally on Tverskaya Street on June 12. Soon after, he was charged for attacking a Rosgvardia officer. On June 16 the Basmaniy District Court of Moscow put Galyashkin under house arrest.
Second Participant in Direct Line Video-Message to Putin Fined
The Leninsky court in Tomsk has fined 51-year-old Elena Sosulina 5000 rubles for supposedly participating in an unauthorised picket. She was one of a number of people who recorded a video message to Vladimir Putin to be aired on the president’s annual ‘Direct Line’ show.
Police officers came to Sosulina’s home without a permit and took her to court. The woman did not have time to inform anyone about the incident and thus her lawyer was not able to attend the hearing. “Open Russia” will appeal against the ruling of the court.
An Open Russia lawyer has already filed a complaint in regards to the ruling made in the case of the 57-year-old Galina Shergina. Another pensioner, 62-year-old Rimma Krutts, is currently hiding from law enforcement services at her country house. The police are threatening her with an arrest for disobedience. Another detainee, 70-year-old Ekaterina Gavrilina, was taken away from the courtroom to the hospital by an ambulance.
Over 40 Detained at Navalny Volunteer Event
Detentions of Navalny supporters with campaign materials have taken place across the country. The hardest-hit area was of course Moscow, where 44 people were taken to 31 police stations.
Some of the activists have told us about various violations during the detentions. For example, two 15 year old girls with balloons were detained near the metro station Novokuznetsk by police officers, who did not even introduce themselves or ask for the girls’ passports. At the police station, the parents were called in and protocols were drawn up. At the police department in Kitay Gorod, police officers blackmailed the detainees. One of them was told that if they write a detailed explanatory note, they will be released. On the other hand, if they refused to speak, they were threatened with prosecution for false testimony. After our consultation, the girl refused to give any explanations and soon she was released from the police department.
One of the detainees in this department of internal affairs had nothing to do with the event and was just walking past the shopping center. As he saw the supporters, he came over to talk. As he later explained, he was on his way to buy some pet food for his rabbit. However, the police wrote in the protocol, “took part in the distribution of leaflets, which obviously constituted propaganda materials.” All decisions will be appealed against.