23:33, 9 November 2015

Court refuses amnesty to ecologist Evgeny Vitishko

Evgeny Vitishko. Photo: http://linkis.com/pE1GK

The Kirsanov District Court of the Tambov Region has found no grounds to release Krasnodar ecologist Evgeny Vitishko on amnesty in connection with the 70^th anniversary of the Victory.

Evgeny Vitishko, an activist of the "Ecological Watch on for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch), is serving his sentence under the case of damaging, in 2011, the fence around the territory, known as the "dacha" of Alexander Tkachov, who was then the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory. Violations of Vitishko’s rights by administration of the colony, where he is being kept, were stated by his colleagues from the "EcoWatch" and rights defenders.

According to advocate Sergey Loktev, Evgeny Vitishko has filed an appeal to amnesty him under the presidential decree for the 70^th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

"He was refused, since the Court found no grounds to amnesty him," the ecologist's advocate has stated as quoted by the RIA "Novosti".

Following the results of the court session, the judge has pronounced the decision that the crime, of which Evgeny Vitishko is accused, does not fall under the amnesty, the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch) reports.

"Meanwhile, the judge has explained that in case if the court pronounces the decision on mitigation of his sentence, he may again appeal for amnesty," reports the message posted on the website of the "EcoWatch".

Let us remind you that on November 16, the Kirsanov District Court scheduled the consideration of the motion on conditional early relief (CER) filed by the defence of Evgeny Vitishko.

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