Week-ending 25 June 2021
On 23 June 2021 Andrei Pivovarov, former head of the Open Russia movement, was fined 50,000 roubles for violation of the ‘foreign agent’ law. He remains in pre-trial detention in Krasnodar region. On 18 June 2021, Memorial Human Rights Centre declared Andrei Pivovarov a political prisoner after he had been arrested and remanded in custody for two months.
Sources:
RFE/RL, 23 June 2021: The jailed former executive director of the pro-democracy Open Russia movement has been fined for failing to provide details of a group he established in 2017 that was added to the “foreign agents” registry. A court in St. Petersburg on June 23 fined Andrei Pivovarov 50,000 rubles ($685) and his organization, Open Petersburg, 150,000 rubles ($2,050). […] On June 2, a court in the southern city of Krasnodar ruled that Pivovarov should be held for two months after he was accused of publishing a post on social media supporting a local election candidate last year on behalf of Open Russia, which was labeled an “undesirable” organization in 2017.
Memorial Human Rights Centre, 18 June 2021: Memorial Human Rights Centre, in accordance with international guidelines, considers the former executive director of Open Russia, Andrei Pivovarov, a political prisoner. We believe he is being prosecuted for his political beliefs. He has been remanded in custody in violation of the right to a fair trial.
