HRC "Memorial" puts Yegor Lesnykh on the list of political prisoners

Over the past two months, nine more persons have been added to the list of Russian political prisoners, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has declared. The updated list includes Yegor Lesnykh, a native of the city of Volzhsky, convicted under the "Moscow case".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 6, Yegor Lesnykh was sentenced to three years in colony. According to the prosecution, on July 27, at a protest action in Moscow, he attacked a "Rosgvardia" (Russian National Guard) serviceman. His defence has appealed against the verdict, claiming that during clashes with law enforcers, Yegor defended other protesters.

The list of political prisoners was also added with natives of Central Asia and Tatarstan, convicted for involvement in the "Hizb ut-Tahrir" organization, banned in Russia, says the website of the HRC "Memorial".

The lists of the HRC "Memorial" are "obviously incomplete" and are "only a reliable minimum estimate of the extent of political repressions." Out of 314 persons on the lists, 250 were deprived of their liberty because of their attempts to exercise the right to the freedom of religion or religious affiliation; and 64 others – for political reasons, human rights defenders have noted.

"In Russia, the real number of political prisoners and other persons deprived of their liberty for political reasons is undoubtedly much larger," says the message of the HRC.