Week-ending 17 July 2020
On Wednesday, 15 July 2020, Human Rights Watch urged the authorities to drop a criminal investigation against human rights defender Semyon Simonov, who is currently under a travel ban, and repeal the abusive ‘foreign agents’ law. Human Rights Watch expressed concerns criminal charges may be laid against Simonov, who heads the Sochi-based Southern Human Rights Centre, for unpaid fines imposed on the Centre under the ‘foreign agents’ law that if he were convicted could see him sentenced to two years in prison. Damelya Aitkhozhina, Russia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “This attack against a human rights defender demonstrates how the Russian authorities continue to use the repressive foreign agents law to criminalize the important work of independent groups. Not only should the case against Semyon Simonov be dropped immediately, but the foreign agents law needs to go.”
Source:
Russia: Rights Defender Faces Criminal Charges
(Moscow) – Russian authorities have placed a prominent human rights defender under a travel ban and may soon formally bring criminal charges against him in relation to the “foreign agents” law, Human Rights Watch said today.
Semyon Simonov, head of the Southern Human Rights Center, based in Sochi, could face up to two years in prison if charged and convicted for unpaid fines levied against the center. The criminal charges follow years of harassment and intimidation against Simonov for his human rights work. The authorities should immediately drop the case and repeal the abusive “foreign agents” law that is the source of the fines.
“This attack against a human rights defender demonstrates how the Russian authorities continue to use the repressive foreign agents law to criminalize the important work of independent groups,” said Damelya Aitkhozhina, Russia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Not only should the case against Semyon Simonov be dropped immediately, but the foreign agents law needs to go.”
One area of Simonov’s work was documenting the exploitation and other abuse against migrant workers involved in construction for Russia’s Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. хюююъ
Source: Human Rights Watch, 15 July 2020
