03 February 2017, 15:20
HRC "Memorial" declares Sevastidi political prisoner
The sentence passed to Oksana Sevastidi, a resident of Sochi, convicted on charges of treason, should be cancelled, says the statement of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".
The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on March 3, 2016, Oksana Sevastidi was sentenced to seven years in prison for the SMS-message, sent in 2008 to her acquaintance in Georgia, in which she confirmed that she saw transportation of military equipment in the direction of Abkhazia. Oksana Sevastidi herself disagrees with the charge and the sentence.
Today, the HRC "Memorial" has issued a statement saying that the information sent by Sevastidi was available to an unlimited number of people, and Sevastidi herself had not been informed about its secrecy.
"We consider it inadmissible to make civilians responsible for the secrecy of military operations, moreover, to criminalize contacts with foreigners about what people see on the street. Should this practice become a norm, it will entail catastrophic consequences for human rights in Russia," says the statement of the HRC "Memorial", received by the "Caucasian Knot".
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
