Russia: Prisoners of conscience Yan Sidorov and Vladislav Mordasov are freed

Reacting to the news Dimitrovgrad City Court today dismissed a request by prison authorities to subject human rights activist Yan Sidorov to three years of harsh probation conditions upon his release today. Responding to the court’s decision, Amnesty International’s Moscow Office Director Natalia Zviagina said:

“This is a huge and undeniable victory for Yan Sidorov, and for all those who have supported him through four years of politically motivated detention. We welcome the court’s decision to dismiss the deplorable attempt to impose further restrictions on Yan’s freedom – this must spell the end of the string of injustices he has been subjected to.

“Yan Sidorov should never have been imprisoned in the first place. He is a prisoner of conscience who has endured years of punishment simply for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of expression and assembly.”

Background

On 2 November, Dimitrovgrad City Court dismissed a request by authorities at penal colony IK-10 – where Yan Sidorov served two years of his sentence – to impose a three-year probation period on him.

n October 2019, Yan Sidorov and his friend Vladislav Mordasov were found guilty of “attempted organization of mass disturbances”. Both had spent almost two years in pre-trial detention. They were each sentenced to more than six years imprisonment, for organizing a peaceful protest in November 2017 in support of dozens of people in Rostov-on-Don (Southern Russia) who had lost their homes in mass fires. Their sentences were subsequently reduced to four years on cassation.Yan Sidorov and Vladislav Mordasov were released today.

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