More than 600 Russian scholars worldwide demand end to ‘rioting’ case against Moscow protesters

Russian scholars working in a range of countries around the world, Russia included, have published a statement demanding that charges of mass rioting against Moscow election protesters be dropped. The scientific and scholarly news portal Troitsky Variant posted the statement on August 22.

The scholars declared, “We demand that those who currently direct [Russia’s] governing apparatus cease their abuses of power, stop their political repressions, and begin adhering rigorously to the Constitution of the Russian Federation.” The statement’s signatories, who numbered more than 650 at the time of this writing, include a number of leading scholars in fields from mathematics to literary studies.

• In mid-August, the leading officers of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages also published a strongly worded open letter demanding an end to the prosecution of Russian student protesters.