{"id":3640,"date":"2020-08-14T20:24:16","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T18:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.human-rights-year.com\/?p=3640"},"modified":"2020-09-16T20:26:19","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T18:26:19","slug":"the-criminal-prosecution-of-krasnodar-activist-yana-antonova-is-illegal-and-politically-motivated-memorial-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.human-rights-year.com\/de\/2020\/08\/14\/the-criminal-prosecution-of-krasnodar-activist-yana-antonova-is-illegal-and-politically-motivated-memorial-says\/","title":{"rendered":"The criminal prosecution of Krasnodar activist Yana Antonova is illegal and politically motivated, Memorial says"},"content":{"rendered":"
Who is\u00a0Yana Antonova and what is\u00a0she accused\u00a0of?<\/strong>
\nYana Antonova is\u00a0a\u00a0pediatric surgeon, a\u00a0civic activist and a\u00a0candidate in\u00a0the upcoming elections to\u00a0Krasnodar city assembly. From March 2017 to\u00a0March 2019 Antonova was coordinator of\u00a0the Open Russia movement in\u00a0Krasnodar Region. On\u00a09 April 2019, Antonova\u2019s apartment was searched. The same day it\u00a0became known that, on\u00a029\u00a0March 2019, the federal Investigative Committee had initiated criminal proceedings against her under Article 284.1 of\u00a0the Criminal Code (carrying out the activities on\u00a0the territory of\u00a0the Russian Federation of\u00a0a\u00a0foreign or\u00a0international NGO whose activities have been designated as\u00a0undesirable in\u00a0the Russian Federation; punishable by\u00a0up\u00a0to\u00a0six years\u2019 imprisonment). On\u00a021 May 2019 Antonova was charged and pre-trial travel restrictions were imposed on\u00a0her.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0the indictment, having already been convicted more than twice of\u00a0offences under Article\u00a020.33 of\u00a0the Code of\u00a0Administrative Offences (carrying out the activities on\u00a0the territory of\u00a0the Russian Federation of\u00a0a\u00a0foreign or\u00a0international NGO whose activities have been designated as\u00a0undesirable in\u00a0the Russian Federation), on\u00a021\u00a0February 2019 Antonova republished a\u00a0post on\u00a0Facebook urging readers to\u00a0attend a\u00a0rally in\u00a0memory of\u00a0Boris Nemtsov that came from the Facebook group \u2018Open Russia. Rostov-on-Don;\u2019 on\u00a024\u00a0February 2019 she took part in\u00a0a\u00a0single-person picket in\u00a0memory of\u00a0Nemtsov; and on\u00a03\u00a0March 2019 she reposted a\u00a0photo of\u00a0the murdered journalist Vladislav Listyev published originally by\u00a0the \u2018Open Russia Team.\u2019 Antonova\u2019s trial, which began on\u00a030\u00a0July 2019 in\u00a0Krasnodar\u2019s Leninsky district court, will shortly be\u00a0concluding. In\u00a0connection with this, as\u00a0well as\u00a0because Antonova is\u00a0currently a\u00a0candidate in\u00a0the elections to\u00a0the Krasnodar city assembly, which increases the risks of\u00a0new violations of\u00a0her rights, Memorial Human Rights Centre considers it\u00a0necessary to\u00a0state its position regarding her prosecution under the criminal law.<\/p>\n

Why does Memorial consider Antonova\u2019s prosecution politically motivated and unlawful?<\/strong>
\nWe\u00a0consider Yana Antonova\u2019s prosecution is\u00a0unlawful and politically motivated because the very notion of \u2018undesirable organisations,\u2019 and the legal r<\/span>ules that punish conduct of\u00a0their activities on\u00a0the territory of\u00a0the Russian Federation, are arbitrary and unjustified and contradict the principle of\u00a0legal certainty and other fundamental principles of\u00a0law:<\/span><\/div>\n