Trial on leniency for Evgeny Vitishko may be postponed, "EcoWatch" fears

The leader of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch) has called on the Chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Council and the Russian Commissioner for Human Rights to draw attention to the situation around Krasnodar ecologist Evgeny Vitishko.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 20, it became known that the Prosecutor's Office challenged the decision on commutation of sentence for Evgeny Vitishko. According to the ecologist's advocate, the consideration of the prosecutors' appeal may take more than two weeks. On November 24, in the penal colony, Evgeny Vitishko declared the second hunger strike in protest.

The court session scheduled for December 3 may be postponed. This fear was expressed by Andrei Rudomakha, the coordinator of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus". "In that case, Evgeny Vitishko can be left in the penal prison for an indefinite period," he has noted.

According to Andrei Rudomakha, if on December 3, the court decides in favour of Evgeny Vitishko, the activist will be released on December 14.

On December 1, Andrei Rudomakha sent new letters to Mikhail Fedotov, Chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Council, and Ella Pamfilova, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation. In his letters, he has called on to draw attention to the Evgeny Vitishko's case. Members of the "EcoWatch" associate the decision of the Prosecutor's Office to challenge the commutation of sentence for Evgeny Vitishko with "interference in the situation of influential forces concerned about the possible influence the ecologist may produce on social and political situation in the Krasnodar Territory."

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