Press Release, 15.04.2015

Today Kirsanovsky District Court of the Tambov region refused to release ecologist Evgeny Vitishko on parole. This information has come from YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin who was in the courtroom.

Evgeny Vitishko

“I believe this decision be politically motivated and is connected with revenge of Governor Tkachyov as the latter had been caught by Vitishko at unlawful seizure of land,” Sergei Mitrokhin said.

The court session was also attended by Sergei Reznikov, chair of YABLKOKO’s regional branch in Tambov, and Sofia Rusova, Advisor to party Chairman.

YABLOKO member Evgeny Vitishko is a well-known environmentalist, civil activist and one of the founders of the Environmental Watch on North Caucuses public group. In 2012 Evgeny Vitishko was charged with three years on probation for criticism of Governor of the Krasnodar Territory Alexander Tkachyov under a pretext of spray-paining on the fence of his “country house” built on the seized and fenced public lands. The environmental activist expressed his disagreement with unlawful seizure of the lands and fencing of public territories in a natural reserve near the Black Sea. On the threshold of the Sochi Olympic Games suspended sentence for Vitishko was replaced by a real term in a penal settlement.

International organisations made statements in support of Vitishko repeatedly. In 2014 Amnesty International declared that Vitishko was prisoner of conscience. In March 2015 the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights addressed Russia with a call to take urgent measures to protect Evgeny Vitishko’s rights and freedoms. Human Rights Watch also addressed the Russian authorities demanding to release Evgeny Vitishko. ALDE Party President Sir Graham Watson earlier this year stated that he “finds 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. Yevgeny Vitishko must be freed.” Statements in favour of the release of Vitishko were made by world and European liberals – Liberal International, the ALDE party, Norwegian Venstre, Zares, Slovenia, the Liberal Party of Moldova, Italia dei Valori, Italy and other. IOC and Olympic Committees of Norway and Sweden and Prime Minister of Norway and the EU delegation also asked for his release.

Public Prosecutor asked the judge to deny parole for Evgeny Vitishko, “Vitishko will be release and will do the same. He did not admit his guilt. ”

Public Prosecutor asked Vitishko why he had not reimbursed the damage to Governor Tkachyov, the applicant. Vitishko’s lawyer Sergei Loktev explained that Evnegy Vitishko had been transferring all the money earned in the penal colony to orphanages, as it was more useful than transferring money to the Governor. He also stressed that it was important that Vitishko had not demonstrate any criminal tendencies.

“I think I do not need further punishment. Our responsibility is to protect the environment without breaking the law which I have been doing, ” Evgeny Vitishko said.

The judge took notice of positive references of Vitishko from the Socio-Economic Union, Bellona, Greenpeace, Environmental Watch and the YABLOKO party.

The management of the colony where Vitishko is kept stood against the release of the environmentalist. According to them, Vitishko had been keeping his belongings in “the wrong place”, gave his jumper to another prisoner so that the latter would not get cold in the frost, etc.

“All the claims to Evgeny Vitishko are flimsy and absurd. It is clear that prison officials are squaring accounts with Vitishko as he is trying to defend prisoners’ human rights in the colony, he released the information on mass-scale beating of prisoners and the riot in the colony. But treating people in such a way is against the Constitution of the Russian Federation “, Sergei Mitrokhin noted.

Sergei Mitrokhin, Evgeny Vitishko, Sergei Loktev

Sergei Reznikov and Sergei Mitrokhin