HRC "Memorial" recognizes civil activist Ivan Barylyak political prisoner

The criminal case against Ivan Barylyak, a resident of Stavropol, has a political motive related to the public activities of the convict; and his prosecution is related exclusively to this activities. These conclusions were made by the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", which recognized Barylyak to be a political prisoner.

On August 31, 2015, Barylyak was found guilty of hooliganism and beatings, committed out of hooliganism, and intentional infliction of bodily harm. The Promyshlenny District Court of Stavropol sentenced him to 3.5 years in a high-security colony. According to investigators, in August 2014, Barylyak attacked employees of the managing company "Comfort-Service" and beat them up.

As noted by the HRC "Memorial", for several years Barylyak was successfully challenging the illegal actions of the "Comfort-Service", which served his house. In May 2014, following a Barylyak's complaint, the housing inspection of Stavropol ruled that the "Comfort-Service" had illegally raised the fees for public utilities; and the inspection demanded to recalculate the bills in favour of tenants. On August 13, 2014, three employees of the above company beat Barylyak up.

The court has assessed the version of August 13 events only on the basis of testimonies of two victims, another employee of the "Comfort-Service" and his wife, says the statement of the HRC. None of the criminal cases initiated on Barylyak's applications, was ever investigated.

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