Romanova: Evgeny Vitishko has no conflicts with prison authorities or other prisoners

The health status of Evgeny Vitishko, an activist of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", who is serving his term in the Tambov Region, causes no concern, said Olga Romanova, the executive director of the movement "Imprisoned Russia", after meeting the convict. According to her story, Vitishko has good relations with other inmates and colony administration.

Let us remind you that on December 20, 2013, the court changed Vitishko's probation into real custody and the ecologist was convoyed to the Tambov Region.

In the colony, the ecologist is sweeping the streets of the settlement, receiving for his work the "huge by colony standards" salary of 3000 roubles. In his spare time, Evgeny helps prisoners to write appeals and other complaints and advises the colony employees on garbage disposal.

He finds his conditions acceptable and believes that, while serving his sentence in the Tambov Region, he has more chances for the conditional early release (CER), since in the Krasnodar Territory the CER could be hardly possible for him because of the pressure from local authorities.

The Krasnodar Territory ranks second after the Murmansk Region by prosecuting ecologists, says the report of the organization "Eco-Prisoner" for 2013. According to the organization, in 2013, eight ecologists fell victim to repressive measures applied by the authorities in the Krasnodar Territory.