Russia's Top Rights Group Lists 46 'Political Prisoners'
Russia's most prominent human rights group on Thursday published a list of 46 "political prisoners," including Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and a Ukrainian pilot detained in Moscow, Nadia Savchenko.
Rights group Memorial publishes an annual list of those it deems to be political prisoners. The Kremlin denies Russia imprisons anyone for political motives but President Vladimir Putin's third term in office has seen a crackdown on the leaders of opposition protests.
"We have entered a new period of political repression, even though it is less visible than it was under the Soviet Union," said Memorial board member Valentin Gefter, a former Soviet dissident.
"The list includes environmental campaigners, bloggers, political activists and people who are fighting for their ethnic group or their religion to be respected," the list's compiler, Sergei Davidis, said at a news conference.
Among those listed is Navalny, a charismatic speaker at Moscow rallies against Putin who has been held under house arrest since February and is being targeted by several criminal probes.
Savchenko is the only one on the list who is not Russian. A Ukrainian military helicopter aviator, she has been arrested by Russia over the deaths of two Russian television journalists during shelling in east Ukraine.
Kiev says that she was abducted from Ukrainian territory and taken to Russia, while Moscow maintains she was arrested after crossing the border illegally. She is currently detained until February and is undergoing psychiatric tests in Moscow.
Amnesty International in September called for her immediate release.
"This criminal case is part of a political and media campaign led by the Russian authorities against Ukraine," Memorial said on its website.
"Not all the political prisoners are so well known, though," said Gefter.
"The range of crimes that they are accused of by the Russian justice system is enormous: ranging from drug trafficking to allegations of corruption, as well as public order offenses."
Memorial, which investigates everything from the Stalin-era Gulag to government death squads in Chechnya, has come under increasing pressure from the authorities.
The justice ministry is seeking to disband its central umbrella organization, which oversees groups nationwide, in a case set to be heard by the Supreme Court on November 13.
Memorial has also been ordered to label itself a "foreign agent" under a controversial new law covering non-governmental organizations related to politics that have international funding.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/153362 |