HRC "Memorial" declared Igor Stenin to be person persecuted for political reasons

Rights defenders have demanded to stop prosecuting Igor Stenin, the head of the movement "Russians of Astrakhan", sentenced to two years in a colony-settlement on charges of public calls to terrorism.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Igor Stenin was accused of spreading calls for extremism in a social network (Part 2, Article 280, of the Russian Criminal Code). On February 8, the Sovietsky District Court of Astrakhan announced the hearing of his case over. On the same day, one of the administrators of the group "Russians of Astrakhan" in the social network "VKontakte" confessed that he had testified against Stenin under pressure.

The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has treated the conviction of a social network user for a comment left under his post as "a dangerous precedent."

According to rights defenders, the investigators, the prosecutor's office and the court "have revealed an extreme degree of bias and partiality," associated with the politically motivated criminal case against Igor Stenin.

"Their bias was expressed in numerous procedural violations committed during the trial. For example, it was illegally declared closed; the defence was refused in summoning an expert, who could give explanations on the operation principles of the social network 'Vkontakte'," the HRC "Memorial" states in its release received today by the "Caucasian Knot".

"We demand to stop prosecuting Igor Stenin," says the release.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.