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FINROSFORUM  //  The Finnish-Russian Civic Forum strives to promote cooperation between the peoples of Finland and Russia by supporting civic initiatives for democracy, human rights, and freedom of speech.

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May 16 / 12:33pm

Russian human rights defender jailed for five years

by Kerkko Paananen
Media_httpgdbrferlorg_uuegf

A Russian human rights defender has been jailed for five years in a high security penal colony on charges of theft and robbery amid fears that he may have been targeted for his human rights work. Aleksei Sokolov, who campaigned against torture and corruption in law enforcement agencies, was sentenced by a court in the Sverdlosk region of Russia.

Aleksei Sokolov’s lawyers said there have been a series of violations of criminal procedure in the handling of his case. He is going to appeal against the verdict. According to Sokolov's lawyers, the court based its verdict solely on the statements of the co-accused in this case who are already serving prison sentences for other crimes.

Aleksei Sokolov is founder and head of the Russian human rights organisation Pravovaya Osnova (Legal Base) which campaigns against torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Russia. Legal Base brought about several investigations against law enforcement officers on allegations including the use of torture to coerce suspects to "confess."

Aleksei Sokolov rose to prominence after he publicised and distributed a film about torture and other ill-treatment in a temporary holding centre in Yekaterinburg. The film which received international attention, led to the closure of the centre. He has also investigated possible corruption in some law-enforcement agencies in Yekaterinburg.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/russian-human-rights-defender-jailed-five-years-2010-05-14

Filed under  //  Amnesty   Human Rights   Prison   Russia   Torture  
 
Mar 16 / 12:55pm

Russia stayed in the Gulag

by Kerkko Paananen
Media_httpwwwindexorg_aajiq

The Russian journalist, Grigory Pasko, who was jailed in 2001, has written a book, "How to survive in a Russian prison," Italian daily La Stampa reports. The book, which has never been published in Russia itself, is both a tutorial and an autobiography. "I must tell you right away: you will not like much of what you will see. Better you just get used to it," Pasko writes.

"If you wait, they will come for you for sure. Even if you do not wait, they will still come for you, unexpectedly. Be prepared that they will take you at night, drag you out of your bed, at your friends' place, by the kiosk when you are buying cigarettes, on the stairway of an airplane, or any other place," Pasko wrote while being held pending his trial on espionage charges.

When in prison, Pasko came to realise that he was in the very heart of Russian reality. He also understood that everyone has to get ready for the same fate: like they say in Russia, the people are divided into those who have been in prison and those who will go to prison. The same applies even to those who have the power to send other people to jail, Pasko noted.

Every third male in Russia will serve time in prison, Pasko says. Prison slang has imbued itself in the Russian genetical memory; even children speak in prison slang. The world has, for all eternity, been divided in two parts: jailers and their victims. "The whole country is one big prison. That is how it always was, and that is probably how it will always be," Pasko laments.

http://www.inopressa.ru/article/16Mar2010/lastampa/pasco.html

Filed under  //  GULAG   Pasko   Prison   Russia