Call for the end of judicial harassment against Mr. Aleksei Sokolov

Russian Federation

Paris-Geneva, May 12, 2010

Re: Call for the end of judicial harassment against Mr. Aleksei Sokolov

Dear Sirs, dear Madam,

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), expresses its utmost concern about the judicial harassment against Mr. Aleksei Sokolov, founder of the organisation “Pravovaia Osnova” (Legal Basis) in 2006, member of the Public Supervisory Commission of detention conditions in Sverdlov region, and producer of the documentary “Torture Factory”, which relates cases of torture in correctional facilities.

The Observatory recalls that Mr. Aleksei Sokolov has been detained since May 13, 2009, and is accused of having allegedly taken part to a robbery in 2004 in Bogdanovich, after a suspect jailed for having committed another crime confessed having committed this robbery with him. At the end of July 2009, he was then accused of stealing a safe containing two million rubles in Yekaterinburg.

He is presently accused of larceny (Articles 158§3(v) and 158§4(v) of the Russian Criminal Code), and robbery (Article 161§3(a)).

Mr. Aleksei Sokolov has been appearing in court together with seven other individuals, six of whom are already serving sentences for other crimes, and one who has been granted a non-custodial measure of detention. The seven co-accused pleaded guilty in the present case, but asked indulgence from the court. Mr. Aleksei Sokolov, on the contrary, demanded to be acquitted.

Dear Sirs, dear Madam, on March 1 and 2, and then on May 5 and 6, 2010, the Observatory mandated observers to the hearings before the Tribunal of the City of Bogdanovich in the criminal case against Mr. Aleksei Sokolov.

With respect to the procedural matters, it was reported, inter alia, that the extension of the detention of Mr. Aleksei Sokolov was based on the fact that he was accused of a particularly grave crime, that a thorough investigation was therefore necessary and that Mr. Aleksei Sokolov had to remain in detention during the investigation to avoid any risk of “pressure” that the latter could put on witnesses. However, it was noted that none of the witnesses had reported any pressure by Mr. Aleksei Sokolov. It was also noted that all the requests made by Mr. Sokolov to challenge the legality of his detention had not been examined.

On the other hand, it was reported that allegations by a co-accused asserting that Mr. Sokolov was putting “pressure” on them were not examined in court either, and that the tribunal has systematically avoided to hear the testimonies of co-accused stating on the contrary that they have never been subjected to any kind of pressure by the latter. Furthermore, over the past months, we observed several measures intended at hindering the preparation of Mr. Sokolov's defence in good conditions, such as the systematic arbitrary confiscation by prison guards of the documents manually drafted by the latter in order to prepare his discussions with his lawyer.

In addition, according to the information received, officers of the Public Prosecutor's Office and of the Central Administrative Board of the Federal Service of Execution of Punishments (CABFEP), whom Mr. Sokolov held responsible of human rights violations against detainees, would have reportedly put pressure on his co-accused to compel them to testify against him and to hold that he was involved in the theft, in exchange of minimum terms of imprisonment and conditional early release. Mr. Aleksei Sokolov's lawyers also pointed out that the testimonies of the co-accused against Mr. Aleksei Sokolov considerably contradicted each other, that the charges had been brought against him on the basis of unsworn statements, and that the co-accused had been held together in one cell, which had given them an opportunity to coordinate their statements.

According to our information, no other elements than the testimonies of the co-accused were reportedly brought before the court as evidence and other witnesses called by Mr. Aleksei Sokolov were rejected by the judge.

Dear Sirs, dear Madam, the Observatory denounces these irregularities which occurred throughout the hearings in the trial against Mr. Aleksei Sokolov. We consider that there are strong reasons to believe that the criminal case opened against Mr. Aleksei Sokolov has been fabricated to actually aim at sanctioning his human rights activities.

We therefore call for the end of any kind of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Sokolov, and for his subsequent acquittal.

More generally, we urge the Russian authorities to put an end to acts of harassment against all human rights defenders in the country, so as to conform with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1998, with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with international and regional human rights instruments ratified by the Russian Federation.

The Observatory kindly urges you to act expeditiously in the framework of your respective mandates with regards to this situation and we express our sincere hope that you will take these considerations and requests into account.

Yours sincerely,

Souhayr BELHASSEN Eric SOTTAS
FIDH President OMCT Secretary General