21:58, 4 February 2014

"EcoWarch" activist Igor Kharchenko charged with disobeying police

Smashed car of Igor Kharchenko, Krasnodar, February 4, 2014. Photo by EcoWatch

Igor Kharchenko, an activist of the public organization "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch) and a member of the "Yabloko" Party, who was detained today in Krasnodar, has been accused of disobeying a legitimate order of a policeman, said the Department of Internal Affairs.

Igor's detention was reported by his colleagues-ecologists. Shortly before the detention, three men smashed his car, Olga Soldatova, Kharchenko's colleague, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The information about the car damage was confirmed by the lawyer Alexander Popkov. "They broke windows in Kharchenko's car, cut the tires and spilled liquid ammonia," he wrote in his microblog on the "Twitter".

Let us remind you that late in the evening on February 3, Kharchenko was detained, along with five other activists of "EcoWarch" and "Yabloko", and taken to the police station. A few hours later they were released without drawing up any protocols. According to the activists, the police feared that they could go out on February 4, the day Olympic Torch Relay in Krasnodar, to city streets with posters of protest against repressions and against the Olympic Games in Sochi.

Author: Natalia Dorokhina

Source: CK correspondent