Schlagwort: Amnesty International

Reacting to the detention of three prominent human rights defenders in Yekaterinburg on charges of “organizing activities of an undesirable organization,” Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said:

“The Russian authorities are blatantly attempting to criminalize human rights work. By conducting intrusive searches and arbitrary arrests, and by criminalizing peaceful cooperation with international partners, the authorities are determined to force human rights defenders into submission.

“Russia’s authorities must immediately release Aleksei Sokolov, Larisa Zakharova and Roman Kachanov and drop all charges against them, which stem solely from their human rights work. Instead of prosecuting those who expose the abuses of the justice and penal systems, the authorities should address these violations themselves.”

Russia’s authorities must immediately release Aleksei Sokolov, Larisa Zakharova and Roman Kachanov and drop all charges against them, which stem solely from their human rights work

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director

Background

On 16 December, law enforcement officers carried out coordinated searches at the homes and workplaces of Yekaterinburg-based human rights defenders Aleksei Sokolov and Larisa Zakharova, as well as lawyer Roman Kachanov. All three work with “Human Rights Defenders of the Urals.” They were subsequently charged under Article 284.1(3) of the Russian Criminal Code, for “organization of activities of an undesirable organization” which is punishable by up to six years’ imprisonment.

The authorities have claimed that the case is connected to alleged cooperation with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy, both designated “undesirable” in Russia.

Aleksei Sokolov is also currently facing criminal prosecution for the alleged display of “extremist symbols” based solely on references to Facebook in the online posts of their human rights group, following the Russian authorities’ designation of Meta as an “extremist organization” and the resulting ban on links to its platforms. He spent six months between July 2024 and January 2025 in pre-trial detention before being released under restrictive measures.

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Responding to today’s conviction of Hong Kong newspaper founder Jimmy Lai on national security charges, Amnesty International’s China Director Sarah Brooks said:

“The predictability of today’s verdict does not make it any less dismaying – the conviction of Jimmy Lai feels like the death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong, where the essential work of journalism has been rebranded as a crime.

“Lai has been jailed simply because he and his Apple Daily newspaper criticized the government. The activities for which he has been convicted would never have been considered crimes before the 2020 National Security Law was enacted.

“But this verdict shows that Hong Kong’s so-called ‘national security’ laws are not in place to protect people, but to silence them. It should also serve as a warning to all people doing business in Hong Kong: that pursuing opportunities in the city comes with severe legal risks.

“This verdict is not just about one man; it is the latest step in a systematic crackdown on freedom of expression in Hong Kong: targeting not only protests and political parties, but the very idea that people can – indeed, should – hold power to account.

“Jimmy Lai is a prisoner of conscience, jailed solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression, and he must be immediately and unconditionally released. The law that has been used to target him, and so many others, must be internationally condemned for what it is: a cover for the authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong to carry on their crackdown.”

Background

Hong Kong’s High Court today found pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces and one count of conspiracy to commit sedition. He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Lai was charged with “collusion with a foreign country or external elements” under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law (NSL) on 11 December 2020. He has been continuously detained since 31 December 2020. He was later charged with two more counts of “conspiracy to collude with a foreign country or external elements” under the NSL, and one more count of “conspiracy to publish seditious publications” under the Crimes Ordinance.

Hong Kong authorities said the charges related to the publication of articles in Apple Daily, a newspaper owned by Lai, that called on foreign countries to impose sanctions. Authorities also cited Lai’s meetings with US politicians and interviews with overseas media, his Twitter (now X) posts and his list of followers on the platform which included prominent foreign politicians and NGOs supportive of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.

Lai, a British national, was denied bail in February 2021 when Hong Kong’s highest court ruled that National Security Law cases were an exception to the presumption in favour of bail. The Hong Kong government also prohibited Lai’s British lawyer Timothy Owen from representing him.

Jimmy Lai founded the outspoken Apple Daily in 1995. Shortly after the National Security Law was introduced on 30 June 2020, nearly 200 police raided the newspaper’s headquarters. It was the first time the law was invoked to search a media outlet’s premises, and Lai was arrested along with his two sons and several newspaper executives.

Apple Daily closed in June 2021 following another police raid and the freezing of its assets, in what Amnesty at the time called a “brazen attack on press freedom”.

Prior to today’s verdict, Hong Kong courts have convicted Lai in four separate cases involving “unauthorized assemblies” and fraud and handed down prison sentences totalling over seven years.

Last year, Amnesty International recognized Lai as a prisoner of conscience alongside human rights lawyers Chow Hang-tung and Ding Jiaxi.

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Reacting to the release by the Belarusian authorities of 123 individuals, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and Maryia Kalesnikava, prisoner of conscience and subject of Amnesty International’s Write for Rights 2024, Marie Struthers, Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International, said:

“We welcome reports that Maryia Kalesnikava and Ales Bialiatski are among those have been freed. But let’s be clear: the latest release doesn’t erase a system that still holds hundreds if not thousands of others languishing behind bars merely for speaking out. Nor does it mean justice for Ales, Maryia and all those who should not have spent a day in prison and suffered severe human rights violations.

We welcome reports that Maryia Kalesnikava and Ales Bialiatski are among those have been freed. But let’s be clear: the latest release doesn’t erase a system that still holds hundreds if not thousands of others languishing behind bars merely for speaking out

Marie Struthers, Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International

“Maryia, Ales and all those freed today must receive full reparations for their ordeal. Every official suspected of responsibility for their wrongful imprisonments – no matter how senior – must be held accountable.

“We must also remember others whose release is long overdue. If this release is a part of political bargain, it only underscores the Belarusian authorities’ cynical treatment of people as pawns. The fate of the released and others like them must never depend on backroom deals. We call for the release of Marfa Rabkova, Nasta Loika and countless other prisoners in Belarus who are unjustly jailed on politically motivated grounds.”

Background

On 13 December, the Belarusian authorities have released 123 prisoners, including opposition politician Maryia Kalesnikava and Ales Bialiatski, a leading human rights advocate and founder of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, following an agreement with the United States to ease sanctions on the country’s potash exports. The vice chair of Viasna Valiantsin Stefanovich, the organisation’s lawyer Uladzimir Labkovich and Kalesnikava’s close associate Maksim Znak are reportedly among the released.

On 7 September 2020, Maryia Kalesnikava was abducted by masked agents and taken towards the Ukrainian border, where she resisted deportation by tearing up her passport, after which she went missing. Later it transpired that she was arrested, charged with “undermining national security” and other fabricated offences, and on 6 September 2021 she received an 11-year prison sentence.

Ales Bialiatski was convicted in 2023 on charges of “tax evasion” and “financing actions deemed to violate public order” – charges widely seen as politically motivated – and had been serving a 10-year sentence in a penal colony.

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