International petition in support of Evgeny Vitishko signed by 5173 persons

As of July 12, 2014, the demand of immediate liberation of ecologist Evgeny Vitishko from colony was signed by 5173 persons. In total, activists plan to collect 100,000 signatures in support of the ecologist.

The collection of signatures was initiated on July 10 at the web site of the international human rights community "Avaaz" – a platform set up for creating petitions in support of civil initiatives.

The authors of the petition indicate that after collecting 100,000 signatures they intend to hand the document over to the Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika.

Evgenia Chirikova, an ecologist and the leader of the movement "In Defence of Khimki Forest", is one of the authors of this petition. According to her story, an agreement was reached with the "Avaaz" that if the desired number of signatures is collected, "the community will spread the ecologist's story around the world."

Evgenia Chirikova believes that the time to collect signatures was well chosen: Vitishko is now under pressure from the administration of the colony, indicating that "they want to get rid of him" and "transfer him from his colony-settlement to a colony with a tighter custody regime, that is, to a general security colony."