13 April 2020
Source: Moscow Helsinki Group
Last week the Podolsky town court moved the hearing of the case involving Aleksandr Shestun, the former head of the Serpukhov district in the Moscow region, forward to sometime in May.
Aleksandr Shestun belongs to a group at risk because he suffers from diabetes and other chronic conditions. It would be unjustified to put his health in danger. Moreover, as is reported in the media, his relatives and defence counsel have reported an outbreak of pneumonia in the Matrosskaya Tishina remand centre, where he is being held, and the transfer of some of the inmates out of the prison. However, the hearing for Shestun’s appeal against his being held in detention, which was scheduled for 14 April by Moscow regional court, is still scheduled for that date.
We remind you that originally the hearing of the appeal to shorten the period of detention was scheduled for 2 April, but this was an infringement of a ruling of the Supreme Court of 18 March (which referred to the review of urgent cases warranting the curtailment of detention) by the Moscow regional court, which ignored the ruling and put the hearing off for a further 12 days.
Well known human rights activists, members of the President’s Council for Human Rights and members of the Public Oversight Commission made an unusual appeal to the chair of the Moscow Region Court on 9 April:
“We are utterly convinced that, in present circumstances, it would be a logical and humane decision to transfer A. V. Shestun to house arrest with an electronic tag. A.V. Shestun is not accused of a crime against a person. He supports his elderly mother, his wife and five children, two of whom are juveniles.
“We ask you, acting within the bounds of your authority, to review the information about this case objectively, to intervene to ensure that legality is observed in that a decision to remand a suspect in custody falls into the category of exceptional measures.”
List of signatories:
Astrakhantseva, Svetlana Nikolaevna, executive director of the Moscow Helsinki Group
Svanidze, Nikolai Karlovich, member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civil Society
Babushkin, Andrei Vladimirovich, member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civil Society
Verkhovsky, Aleksandr Markovich, member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civil Society
Nikitinsky, Leonid Vasilievich, member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civil Society
Evdokimova, Natalya Leonidovna, member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civil Society
Kostanov, Yury Artemovich, member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civil Society
Vinokurova, Ekaterina Vladimirovna, member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civil Society
Sidorovich, Olga Borisovna, member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civil Society
Makovetskaya, Svetlana Gennadievna, member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civil Society
Zasursky, Ivan Ivanovich, member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civil Society
Soboleva, Anita Karlovna, member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civil Society
Melnikov, Aleksei Vladimirovich, member of the Moscow Public Oversight Commission
Litvinovich, Marina Alekseevna, member of the Moscow Public Oversight Commission
Gannushkina, Svetlana Alekseevna, board member and head of the Migration and Law Network of the Memorial Human Rights Centre, chair of the Civic Assistance Committee
Svetova, Zoya Feliksovna, journalist
Lukyanova, Elena Anatolievna, professor in the faculty of constitutional and administrative law of the Higher School of Economics
Borshchev, Valery Vasilievich, co-chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group
Ponomarev, Lev Ponomarev, human rights defender
Uminsky, Aleksei, archpriest of the Russian Orthodox Church
Pershin, Dmitry, hieromonk of the Russian Orthodox Church
Rusina, Vlada Valerievna, chair of the Public Committee to Free Shestun
Aleksandr Shestun, former head of the Serpukhovsky district of Moscow region, was arrested and remanded in custody in the middle of June 2018. He has been charged with fraud, illegal business activities and money laundering. Shestun maintains his innocence and insists the charges against him are fabricated. Shestun claims he is being prosecuted because he gave official permission for protests to be held against a landfill site and because he plans to stand for re-election as head of the district.
Translated by Mary McAuley and Simon Cosgrove
