Court decides to release Evgeny Vitishko from settlement-colony

The Tambov Regional Court has upheld the decision of the Kirsanov District Court to replace the unserved part of the Evgeny Vitishko's sentence at the penal settlement-colony with restriction of liberty. The ecologist will serve the unserved part of his sentence in the Tuapse District of the Krasnodar Territory.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 24, Evgeny Vitishko declared a hunger strike at the penal settlement-colony for the second time. He was protesting against the barriers to his conditional early relief (CER).

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been told by Sergey Loktev, an advocate of the ecologist, that today, the Tambov Regional Court has considered the appeal filed by the Prosecutor's Office. In their appeal, the prosecutors have demanded to determine the town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban in the Krasnodar Territory, where Evgeny Vitishko is registered, as the place where he is to serve the unserved part of his sentence.

"The appeal filed by the prosecutors is granted partially. The Tambov Regional Court has determined the Tuapse District as the place where Evgeny Vitishko is to serve his conditional sentence. He has been living in the Tuapse District for 15 years already, and he has got the property there," the defender has reported.

Thus, the decision of the Kirsanov District Court of the Tambov Region on mitigation of the ecologist's sentence by the conditional imprisonment has entered into force. At present, it is still unknown when the ecologist will be released.

"He will be released after the Court's decision enters the penitentiary institution where he is serving his sentence. The law stipulates that the judgment shall be sent immediately," Sergey Loktev has noted.

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