Several public figures intend to raise money for legal assistance to activists. We are talking about a crowdfunding project that will coordinate its actions with existing human rights organizations

Actor Oleg Basilashvili (Photo: RIA Novosti)

Four signatories

Actor Oleg Basilashvili, writer Vladimir Voinovich, poet, composer and playwright Yuliy Kim and geophysicist Alexander Gorodnitsky wrote an open letter calling for support for political prisoners. As stated in the statement that the authors provided to RBC, they intend to start collecting funds for “emergency legal assistance” for those who are detained at mass rallies.

“Among the detainees there are political activists who know what they are getting into, but the majority are ordinary citizens who participated in peaceful actions guaranteed by the Constitution and never expected to end up behind bars because of this. Neither you nor we can stop the shameful practice of dispersing peaceful demonstrations. But it is within our power not to leave our fellow citizens in trouble without help. The system has a centuries-long history of torture, abuse of people and massacres. Therefore, it is necessary that by the time the detainees are brought to the police station, there is already a lawyer there ready to defend them,” the letter emphasizes.

The author of the idea is the former co-chairman of the Right Cause party Leonid Gozman. He told RBC that the money is planned to be collected using Yandex.Wallet, registered in his name. Voinovich, Basilashvili, Kim and Gorodnitsky agreed to cooperate with the Memorial human rights center, the Sitting Rus' movement, the OVD-Info project and the May 6 Committee, the statement said. Everyone who donated money will be able to track how the funds were spent, Gozman emphasized.

It is assumed that lawyers will help activists only at the stage of detention and subsequent trial, Gozman explained to RBC. Lawyers will not take part in processes similar to the Bolotnaya case. Gozman noted that those who signed the appeal do not have their own lawyers, so the initiators of the project will focus on those lawyers who are already working with Memorial, Sitting Russia and the May 6 Committee.

Southern Front: how Dagestani truck drivers protest near Moscow Photo gallery

The head of the Sitting Rus' movement, Olga Romanova, confirmed to RBC that the signatories of the letter contacted her. She emphasized that it is planned to involve those lawyers who are already going to police stations at the request of activists to help the detainees: these are lawyers working pro bono and lawyers collaborating with Open Russia and other organizations.

"RosUznik" and "Open Russia"

This is not the first project to help activists. In 2012, RosUznik was created, which raised money for lawyers for those detained during protests. Subsequently, “RosUznik” helped those arrested in the case of the riots on Bolotnaya Square. At the end of 2014, RosUznik announced that it was ceasing its work, since the “Bolotnaya case” was completed and the project objectives set in 2012 were completed. “RosUznik” has retained only the postal service, which allows you to write letters to almost 70 persons involved in various criminal cases.

In the summer of 2015, former co-owner of the Yukos oil company Mikhail Khodorkovsky and opposition politician Alexei Navalny announced that they would distribute 2.2 million rubles. families of political prisoners - 100 thousand rubles each. people whom experts recognized as political prisoners. The project for financial support of political prisoners exists within the framework of the human rights direction of Khodorkovsky’s Open Russia movement, which is coordinated by ex-defendant in the “Bolotnaya case” Maria Baronova. Voinovich, Basilashvili, Kim and Gorodnitsky do not yet intend to cooperate with Open Russia, Gozman said.

Voinovich and Basilashvili will begin collecting funds for those detained at rallies