Activists in Yerevan held pickets in support of prisoners.
Activists held pickets near the embassies of Germany and Russia in Yerevan in support of people they consider political prisoners.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on November 1, activists held pickets near the embassies of Russia and Germany in Yerevan in support of people they consider political prisoners. Participants of the action at the German embassy supported Dmitry Bagrash, while at the Russian embassy – former governor of the Khabarovsk region Sergey Furgal.
Today, November 8, activists gathered at the German embassy in Yerevan in support of Dmitry Bagrash, who is serving a sentence in Germany and is seeking a review of his criminal case, reported the Telegram channel RusNews.
The reason for the picket was Bagrash's complaints that he was receiving threats from other prisoners. Bagrash has repeatedly reported this to the administration of the detention center, but he was again placed next to people whom he claims pose a danger, as stated in the publication.
Also today, another picket took place at the Russian embassy in Yerevan. Its participants demanded the release of prisoners whom they consider political, reported the Telegram channel in another message.
Participants of the action brought posters dedicated to former governor of the Khabarovsk region Sergey Furgal, his accountant Galina Aleinikova, and her deputy Svetlana Osipenko.
In addition, activists expressed support for Chechen native Mansur Movlaev and activist Yulia Emelyanova, who are at risk of extradition from Kazakhstan to Russia.
Mansur Movlaev is a Chechen activist who publicly criticized the authorities of the republic. According to him, he was held in a secret prison in Chechnya and tortured. In 2023, he fled to Kyrgyzstan, and in May 2025, he was detained in Kazakhstan at Russia's request. The Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan approved his extradition, and in September of this year, the cassation court upheld the denial of asylum. Movlaev is in a pre-trial detention center in Almaty. The UN Human Rights Committee has requested Kazakhstan to refrain from extraditing him until his complaint is considered. Yulia Emelyanova is a Russian activist who, after leaving Russia in 2022, helped Russian political prisoners and emigrants in Georgia. In August 2025, she was detained while transferring at Almaty airport. Russian authorities are seeking her extradition over a case involving the theft of a phone from a taxi driver. Emelyanova denies guilt, and human rights defenders link the case to her political activities. She was denied asylum in Kazakhstan. She is under extradition arrest in Almaty. In October, the UN Committee Against Torture demanded that she not be extradited to Russia until her complaint is reviewed.
It should be noted that Sergey Furgal was sentenced to 23 years in prison. In December 2025, he received a new sentence – Furgal was found guilty on economic charges under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, with a total sentence of 25 years.
According to German authorities, Dmitry Bagrash attempted to set fire to the building of the news agency RIA "Novosti" in Berlin in 2022. The investigation believes that he placed a homemade bomb in the basement of the building where agency employees lived. The bomb did not go off, and it was later found by police, noted the Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel on June 22.
On June 20, Bagrash was charged with attempted murder. Before his arrest, he held protests against Vladimir Putin's policies, the publication indicated.