08 March 2017, 19:18
HRC “Memorial” demands to release Bagavutdinova and Polyudova
Today, on March 8, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has issued a statement with comments on the recent releases of the women from the list of political prisoners compiled by the HRC. In particular, rights defenders have supported the pardoning of the resident of Sochi Oksana Sevastidi.
On March 3, 2016, Oksana Sevastidi was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment for sending an SMS to her friend to Georgia in 2008, in which she confirmed that she had seen the transportation of military vehicles in direction of Abkhazia. Oksana Sevastidi herself expressed her disagreement with the charge and the verdict. On March 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on pardoning Oksana Sevastidi.
"Whatever the reasons for the liberation of the innocent women, who should have never got behind bars, we welcome these decisions," says the statement.
At the same time, the HRC “Memorial” has stressed that "its far from complete list of political prisoners" still contains 101 persons, including two women: Zarema Bagavutdinova and Darya Polyudova.
"The HRC ‘Memorial’ calls for liberation of all Russian political prisoners!" says the above statement received today by the "Caucasian Knot".
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 21, 2014, in Buynaksk, Zarema Bagavutdinova, an employee of the Dagestani organization "Pravozaschita" (Advocacy), was sentenced to five years in a high-security colony on charges of recruiting a militant. At the trial, witnesses testified in favour of Bagavutdinova; she herself rejected the investigators’ version. On December 21, 2015, Darya Polyudova, one of the organizers of the failed action "For Federalization of Kuban!" received two years of colony-settlement on charges of calling for separatism and extremism. She also rejected her guilt.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
