Moscow reminds of Mirzayanau named in “December 19 case”
Moscow human rights activists are standing up for one of the people named in “December 19 case”. A picket in support of Fyodar Mirzayanau has taken place near
the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Russian citizen is waiting for his trial in Minsk.
Member of the political council of Moscow “Solidarity” Anastasiya Rybachenka has told Euroradio that the action participants sympathize with those imprisoned in Belarus.
Rybachenka: “We sympathize with the Belarusian opposition and all the people who are in jail now. However, this action is aimed at supporting him in the first place because we think that if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuses to support the person whose father is Russian, it will lose face because he is directly related to Russia. If he is imprisoned it will mean that Russia is afraid to protect its citizens and sets economic interests above human rights”.
The action was supposed to be a meeting at first. However, it was not authorized and citizens organized separate pickets near the Foreign Office. Picketers were distributing appeals to the Foreign Office and asking citizens to deliver them to the waiting room and to demand that Mirzayanau’s trial should be open and fair. The appeal will also be sent to Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Lavrov.
Rybachenka: “Our appeal was signed by well-known people – Garry Kasparov, Boris Nemtsov, Andrei Bilzho (cartoonist) and Dmitrii Spirin – vocalist of the band “Cockroaches!” forbidden to perform in Belarus. They all signed it and we will present the appeal soon. We are also urging citizens to deliver the appeal we are distributing on their behalf”.
Let us remind you that Russian citizens Breus and Gaponov have already stood trials in Minsk. Their sentences were light if compared to the other people named in “December 19 case”.
Rybachenka: “It is very unfair. I am happy about Breus and Gaponov, we also protected them. It is a pity that many people accused of the same thing with the same evidence or even its absence are getting imprisoned for two and more years. Of course, it is not fair”.
Besides the pickets, human rights defenders are planning a press conference. Its date will be reported later.
Photo by: adducommunity.com
