Ecologists detained in Krasnodar released till trial

Andrei Rudomakha and Suren Gazaryan, activists of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", detained by militia in Krasnodar in the course of their protest action on December 5, were sent home, after interference of local human rights defenders, till the sitting of the local magistrate court.

As earlier reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, on December 5 Krasnodar hosted a march in defence of the natural area "Utrish" on the Black Sea coast and the environment around the territorial capital. The activist marched along Krasnaya Street from the "Aurora" Movie Theatre to Pushkin Square.

According to the organizers - the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" and the "Yabloko" Party, - there were about 100 protesters in the column. Suren Gazaryan and Andrew Rudomakha - leaders of the "Watch" - were detained.

As reported by the activists, the Krasnodar authorities were timely notified about the action; however, militiamen prevented the event from the very beginning. "While at first, realizing the wrongfulness of their actions, militiamen used passive forms of obstruction: they demanded to remove banners, posters and flags, later, in the course of the march, law enforcers decided to use violence," ecologists say.

Andrei Rudomakha was told that was detained for holding an unsanctioned rally. It in the same manner as Suren Gazaryan - without presenting themselves and without presenting any documents - he was taken under arms, dragged to the car and taken away to a medical examination, the protesters said. None of the detainees revealed any signs of alcohol intoxication.

After reading the documents of detention, Tatiana Rudakova, a member of the Public Oversight Commission and head of the NGO "Mothers in Defence of Detainees, Defendants and Convicts, and Irina Dubovitskaya, a member of the Human Rights Council under the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory, initially met Rudomakha and then managed to lobby the decision to release the ecologist till the trial.

Suren Gazaryan was taken to a magistrate's court in Krasnodar, where a session was held. After his release the ecologist said that, according to the protocol, he was accused of "disobeying to the militia", when he refused to remove his unfolded poster. At the court session Gazaryan was invited to agree to a minimum fine, but the activist refused.

"I'm accused under two articles - disobedience to the militia and organization of a non-sanctioned demonstration," the ecologist told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The Krasnodar militia refused to comment on the circumstances of activists' detention, but said that the action was held in violation of the legislation.

An application on holding the December 5 action was submitted to Krasnodar Mayoralty notifying that a small column will march from the "Aurora" to Pushkin Square. However, the city administration, which had earlier coordinated this sort of actions, on this occasion sent a reply stating that since "en route of the column there are federal-value monuments, the application should have been submitted to the administration of the Krasnodar Territory".

The "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" found the Mayoralty's actions illegal and appealed against them to the city's Prosecutor's Office. Despite the absence of coordination of the actions with local authorities, the ecologists still went out to the march.

Let us also note here that today the Central Journalists' House in Moscow will award the winners of the contest "Best Civil Action of the Year" in Russia; the action is organized by the Foundation "Law and Justice". The public campaign "Let's Save Utrish" was recognized to be among the best; and last night Andrei Rudomakha was to fly to Moscow to receive the award.