Moscow hosts solo picket in support of Krasnodar ecologist Evgeny Vitishko

On September 17, in Moscow, in front of the building of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, a solo picket was held in support of Evgeny Vitishko, a Krasnodar ecologist, serving his sentence at the penal settlement-colony in the Tambov Region. The solo picket was held by Sophia Rusova, the Adviser to the Chairman of the "Yabloko" Party, the press service of the political organization reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 20, 2012, Evgeny Vitishko, a member of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch), was sentenced to three years of conditional imprisonment probation on charges of damaging the fence around the land plot, known as the "dacha" of the Krasnodar Governor Alexander Tkachov. However, on December 20, 2013, the Tuapse District Court replaced the ecologist's conditional term for real imprisonment; and he was convoyed to a colony-settlement in the Tambov Region.

The solo picket held by Sophia Rusova on September 17 has become the first one of a series of pickets to be held in many cities of Russia, the "Sochi News" reports.

"We would like to remind you that there is still a large number of political prisoners in Russia and the problem is particularly acute in the Kuban Region, where lives of all civil and political activists are subjected to surveillance and control of the FSB and the 'E' centre," said the activist as quoted by the press service of the "Yabloko" Party and posted at the Party's website on September 17.

Sophia Rusova has appealed to all indifferent people to join the action in support of Evgeny Vitishko and hold pickets in their own cities.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.