Week-ending 14 August 2020
On 6 August 2020 Memorial Human Rights Centre declared Yana Antonova a political prisoner. Memorial Human Rights Centre stated in its press release that Antonova was involved in ordinary political activities; “She is being prosecuted under an unjust article of the Russian Criminal Code for participation in the activities of an undesirable organization because she is a supporter of Open Russia.”
Memorial Human Rights Centre: “Yana Antonova’s prosecution is politically motivated and unlawful, intended to force her to cease, or change the character of, her civil society activity as a political activist solely because of her political beliefs and in connection with her non-violent exercise of freedom of thought, expression and information, the rights of peaceful assembly and association, and other rights and freedoms guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Her prosecution is a part of the state’s repressive actions against both Open Russia (inextricably linked in the authorities’ eyes with the figure of Mikhail Khodorkovsky) and political opposition in general. Previously, opposition activist Anastasia Shevchenko from Rostov-on-Don, who has been under house arrest for more than a year, was included in the list of political prisoners compiled by Memorial Human Rights Centre. Memorial Human Rights Centre demands that the prosecution of Antonova be ended immediately. We also demand the removal of the unjust Article 284.1 from the Russian Criminal Code.”
