18:50, 22 September 2016

Number of signatories to petition in support of Zhalaudi Geriev nears 5000

Currently, there are 4940 signatures to the petition demanding an impartial trial of Zhalaudi Geriev, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Geriev was sentenced to three years in colony on charges of marijuana possession.

The petition in support of Geriev was posted on the "Change.org" civil platform on September 11 by journalist's friends.

The signatories believe that Geriev is persecuted because he is an independent journalist.

On September 21, the International Day of Peace, the call to sign the petition in Geriev's support was spread on the Facebook by the movement "Youth Peace Ambassadors' Network". Also, calls to sign the petition are spread by users of the social network "VKontakte".

The statements in defence of Zhalaudi Geriev were issued by the Russian Union of Journalists, the Human Rights Centre "Memorial" and the international human rights organizations: the Human Rights Watch, the Article 19, the Free Press Unlimited, the Front Line Defenders, the Civil Rights Defenders, the Freedom House, the "Reporters Without Borders", the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the Observatory for the Protection of Rights Defenders.

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