Urgent Action 11-25-09

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

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http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa12809.pdf

Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on May 18, 2009. Thanks!

24 November 2009

Further Information on UA 128/09 (18 May 2009) and follow-up (19 August 2009) – Torture/unfair trial

RUSSIAN FEDERATION Aleksei Sokolov (m), human rights defender

Aleksei Sokolov, a male human rights defender, is unlawfully detained in the city of Yekaterinburg, near the Ural Mountains in Russia. The court order to keep him in pre-trial detention expired on 6 November and no further order has been issued. Amnesty International is concerned that the treatment of Aleksei Sokolov is aimed at putting him under pressure to withdraw from his human rights work. He remains at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

Aleksei Sokolov has been in custody since 13 May, when he was detained on suspicion of robbery. When the Sverdlovsk Regional Court ruled on 31 July that he should be released pending trial, the police charged him with theft and he remained in custody. His pre-trial detention has been extended several times by the Leninskii district court in Yekaterinburg. On 20 October, a judge in the same court ordered that he be detained until 6 November. On 2 November, another judge ruled that Aleksei Sokolov’s case should be transferred to a different district court and upheld a previous order to detain Aleksei Sokolov until 6 November. The judge did not indicate whether the detention should continue after that date. Despite this, Aleksei Sokolov remains in detention in violation of Russian law. The decision on 2 November was made without a defense lawyer being present, which is an additional violation of Russian law. Aleksei Sokolvo is still held in a pre-trial detention center in Yekaterinburg without knowing how long he might be kept there. A further hearing about the lawfulness of his detention will take place on 25 November.

Since Aleksei Sokolov was detained in May, Amnesty International has noted a number of violations of Russian criminal procedural law in this case, including the public being excluded from a hearing and the judge failing to provide sufficient explanation for an extension of his detention. This leads to concerns that he may not receive a fair trial.

Aleksei Sokolov told his lawyer that police had threatened him soon after he was detained in May that they “could not beat him but would know how to torture him”. Aleksei Sokolov also told his lawyer that police said, “You thought you could control us, nobody can control the police. You’ve got what you deserved as a human rights defender.”

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Aleksei Sokolov is the head of the non-governmental organization Pravovaia Osnova (Legal Basis), which campaigns against torture and other ill-treatment of people held in Russia’s prisons and detention centers.

In 2006 Aleksei Sokolov distributed a film about torture and other ill-treatment in prison colony IK-2 in Yekaterinburg. Part of the prison colony had been used as a temporary holding center for people under arrest, and here, according to the film, people were tortured. The film received wide coverage, both in Russia and internationally, and led to the closure of the temporary holding center. The work of Legal Basis brought about several investigations into police and prison colony staff, accused of crimes including the use of torture to force suspects to confess.

On 13 May 2009 Aleksei Sokolov was detained on suspicion that he had taken part in a 2004 robbery. The investigation into this robbery had been closed several times because of failure to identify a suspect. On 23 April 2009 the investigation was reopened yet again: according to police, one suspect, already in prison for another crime, had confessed to committing the robbery together with Aleksei Sokolov.

According to a decision of 29 October 2009 of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, judges should issue orders of detention during investigation only in exceptional cases and only after considering other measures of restraint in order to ensure that the suspect of a crime does not continue to commit crimes or goes into hiding.

Aleksei Sokolov has a wife and a small children, is officially registered in Yekaterinburg. In one decision, justifying his detention, the judge argued that Aleksei Sokolov could use his position as a member of the public commission for the control of of places of detention in order to influence those witnesses in his case, who are already imprisoned. Aleksei Sokolov’s membership of the public commission has been suspendedhalted while he is under investigation and he would have no access to detainees.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the authorities to release Aleksei Sokolov to await trial, in line with the Supreme Court ruling of 29 October 2009;
- Demanding that they grant Aleksei Sokolov a prompt and fair trial;
- While he is in custody, urging the authorities to ensure that he is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated;
- Calling on them to demonstrate respect for the lawful work of human rights defenders, and ensure they are free to pursue their lawful activities without fear of repercussions.

APPEALS TO:

Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation
Yurii Ya. Chaika
Ul Bolshaia Dmitrovka 15a
Moscow GSP-3
125993 RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 692 17 25
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General

Prosecutor of the Sverdlovsk Region
Yurii A. Ponomarev
Ul. Moskovskaia 21
Yekaterinburg
GSP 1036
Sverdlovsk Region
620219 RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 343 377 02 41
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor

Ombudsperson for the Russian Federation
Vladimir P. Lukin
ul. Miasnitskaia 47
Moscow
107048 RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 607 74 70
Salutation: Dear Mr. Lukin

COPIES TO:

Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2650 Wisconsin Ave NW
Washington DC 20007
Fax: 1 202 298 5735

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 05 January 2010.

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This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.

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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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