Ecologist detained in Krasnodar Territory denies claiming political asylum in Germany

Yesterday, on March 6, Suren Gazaryan, a member of the Board of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", was released from the IVS (temporary detention facility) of the Tuapse UVD (Interior Department) after 7 days of administrative arrest. He refuted the earlier information that he had applied for political asylum in Germany.

It was reported earlier that two activists of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", arrested after their picnic action in the Tuapse District of the Krasnodar Territory, applied to the German Embassy in Moscow for political asylum.

"Despite the pressure exerted on activists of the 'Eco Watch' by judicial and executive authorities, we will continue campaigning in defence of citizens' constitutional rights, in particular, their right to freely attend forests and seashore," the statement of the ecologists that has arrived to the "Caucasian Knot" quotes the words of Suren Gazaryan, whose arrest ended on March 6.

"I didn't write any appeals for political asylum either to Embassy of Germany or any other country in the world; I'm not going to leave Russia," said Gazaryan. "However, the recent developments in Khimki and Krasnodar Territory showed that there's a serious threat from state authorities remaining to personal safety of civil activists, ecologists and members of their families."