Court refuses to release ecologist Evgeny Vitishko on parole

Today, the Kirsanov District Court of the Tambov Region has refused to grant a motion to release the Krasnodar ecologist Evgeny Vitishko on parole (under conditional early relief – CER). The Court has explained the decision by the fact that the ecologist "failed to repent of the committed crime and to behave better during the year served in the penal colony." According to advocate Sergey Loktev, the ecologist's defence is going to file an appeal.

"The Court has explained the decision by a negative characteristic of Evgeny Vitishko issued by the penal colony administration and eight ongoing penalties. For the Court, the above is of much higher importance than all the positive characteristics of NGOs, such as the 'Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus', 'Greenpeace', and 'Yabloko' Party," Sergey Loktev has told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent with bearing in mind, in particular, the characteristic of Evgeny Vitishko as a member of the "Yabloko" Party read out at the court session.

"Evgeny Vitishko is abused in the penal colony and subjected to completely absurd penalties. For example, he allegedly failed to say hello to a staff member of the penal colony, although he saw him in the morning and said hello," said Sergey Mitrokhin, the Chairman of the "Yabloko" Party, who attended the court session.

"The Court has decided that those absurd penalties are enough to leave the ecologist in the penal colony. The Judge often laughed at the absurdity of the penalties. I believe that the refusal of the release on parole is a politically motivated decision," Sergey Mitrokhin has told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

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