Human rights activist Boris Desertsev died

In St. Petersburg, at the 79th year of his life, after a severe long illness, human rights activist Boris Pustintsev died. It is reported by Fontanka.ru.

In the 50s, desertov participated in an underground group, which consisted mainly of students of the 1st Leningrad Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages. In November 1956, they distributed leaflets with protest against the suppression of the Soviet troops in Hungary. In 1957, Pustintsev, together with other members of the group, was arrested by the KGB and convicted under Article 58 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR to 10 years in prison. He left the conclusion in 1962.

After the desert camp, he worked as a translator, director of dubbing films. Actively participated in the dissident movement.

In 1991-1996, the deserts were the co-chair of the St. Petersburg branch of the Human Rights Society "Memorial". He was one of the founders and the chairman of the human rights organization "Civil Control". Since 2004, he was part of the Human Rights Council. In 2012, he left the HRC as a sign of disagreement with the introduced procedure for Internet elections of its members.

In 1993, Pustintsev was awarded the officer cross of the Order of the Merits of the Hungarian Republic.