Ruslan Gvashev reports health deterioration

Ruslan Gvashev, a Circassian activist, who went on a hunger strike in protest against court decisions about his prayer at the Tulip Tree, says his health has worsened, but his protest will continue.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 30, the Lazarevskoe District Court of Sochi reconsidered the case on the prayer on the Adygs Remembrance Day and upheld the administrative fine earlier imposed on Ruslan Gvashev, a former chairman of the Circassians-Shapsugs Council. His advocate appealed against the judgement; while on September 11, Ruslan Gvashev himself announced an indefinite protest hunger strike.

"I'm in bed and can’t get up; I don’t eat and drink water only when my throat becomes very dry," Gvashev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Ruslan Gvashev intends to draw authorities’ attention to his case and get it examined in accordance with the law.

"I decided to go on a hunger strike, when I learnt that the district deputy head had presented his explanation to the Lazarevskoe District Court, where he treated the prayer as a rally. Meanwhile, the minutes of the court session failed to present the testimony of the district policeman, who stated about the pressure from his bosses and the FSB curator," Ruslan Gvashev has explained.

"They ignore me, and I can’t prove anything at court; that's why I want to prove with my death the Adygs’ right to the memory, to hold prayers at the sacred tree," Mr Gvashev has concluded.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.