HRC "Memorial" announces Sergey Titarenko from Krasnodar to be a political prisoner

The Krasnodar activist Sergey Titarenko, accused of extremism, is a political prisoner and should be released from criminal prosecution, says the statement of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Sergey Titarenko, one of the organizers of the failed march for federalization of Kuban (Krasnodar Territory), was detained on September 26, 2014. He is charged under two articles of the Criminal Code – Part 2 of Article 280 (public calls for extremist activity disseminated through the Internet) and Part 2 of Article 282.1 (participation in an extremist community).

Today, the HRC "Memorial" has issued a statement saying that the persecution of a group of Krasnodar activists, which, apart of Titarenko, includes Darya Polyudova, also recognized as a political prisoner by the HRC, was caused by their attempt to hold on August 17, 2014, a non-violent mass action "March for Federalization of Kuban".

"The right to hold actions of this kind, which was in reality disrupted, and to public expression of one's views on topical issues of the Russian and international policy is enshrined by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The organizers of the march in general are not separatists, which suggests that their actions were free of any crime elements," says the statement.

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