The ALDE Party, Press Release, 18.02.2014

ALDE Party President Sir Graham Watson MEP is alarmed by the news that Russian environmentalist and YABLOKO member Evgeny Vitishko is on hunger strike in a prison since one week, in rather harsh conditions. Sir Graham said: “I find it cynical against the background of the Winter Olympics that a respected environmentalist from the Sochi region, who was protesting against the severe destruction of ecological systems in and around Sochi in connection with the Olympic games, receives such a lengthy sentence. It represents another episode in the ongoing wave of reprisals against civil society activists in Russia. Evgeny Vitishko must be freed.”

Last week, the Krasnodar Regional Court had dismissed a complaint submitted by lawyers of Mr. Evgeny Vitishko, which meant that a verdict of the court of lower instance came into force. The verdict envisages a three-year imprisonment term for Vitishko due to his criticism of the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory. Earlier, Vitishko had been sentenced to three years of probation for making inscriptions on a fence unlawfully erected in a nature reserve.

The ALDE Party and our Russian member YABLOKO are urging Russia’s federal authorities to pay attention to the lawlessness and arbitrary rule taking place in the Krasnodar region, that cause irreparable reputational damage to the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Should you wish to support the release of Evgeny Vitishko, please support the online petition launched by the Swedish Olympic committee: http://www.change.org/petitions/the-swedish-olympic-committee-act-for-the-release-of-russian-political-prisoner-evgeny-vitishko

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