10:19, 26 January 2019

AI announces Rostov activist Anastasia Shevchenko to be a prisoner of conscience

Anastasia Shevchenko, a member of the federal council of "The Open Russia", was arrested for her political views and should be immediately released, the human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) has stated. The Human Rights Council (HRC) under the President of Russia has also expressed concern over the persecution of the Rostov female activist.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the activist was detained on January 21 after a search. On January 23, the court sentenced Anastasia to a month and 25 days of arrest.

This is the first case considered under the article "Activities of an organization recognized in Russia as undesirable", the AI has stated.

The law on undesirable organizations serves to suppress the freedom of association and self-expression, the AI has noted.

In January 2018, the court fined Anastasia Shevchenko after her participating in public debates; in July she was fined under the same article again.

The HRC under the President of Russia has also indicated that Shevchenko has been punished excessively severely.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 25, 2019 at 04:59 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.