07:47, 12 August 2014

HRC "Memorial" expands list of political prisoners up to 45 names

On August 11, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" published a new updated list of persons recognized as political prisoners. At present, the list has been expanded from 40 up to 45 persons, including, in particular, Ruslan Kutaev, the President of the Assembly of Peoples of the Caucasus.

The previous list of political prisoners prepared by the HRC "Memorial" was published in February 2014, and it contained 40 names. Over the past period, some persons, earlier included in the above list, have been released, including, in particular, Professor Mikhail Savva, a Krasnodar public figure.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 7, the Urus-Martan Court of Chechnya sentenced Ruslan Kutaev to four years of imprisonment on charges of drug possession. Pyotr Zaikin, an advocate of the human rights defender, has announced the intention to challenge the verdict.

According to the HRC "Memorial", "Ruslan Kutaev was sentenced on fabricated charges after the conference 'The deportation of the Chechen people. What it was and whether it is possible to forget?' not sanctioned by the authorities of the Chechen Republic".

On July 14, the international human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) also recognized Ruslan Kutaev "a prisoner of conscience".