"This is an intimidation action"

Human rights activists and politicians react to the arrest of Lev Ponomarev for 25 days for calls to participate in the action "For our and your children"

On December 5, the Tver court of Moscow arrested for 25 days the director of the Lev Ponomarev movement “For Human Rights”. The 77-year-old human rights activist was sent to the special receiver by the same judge Dmitry Gordeev, who was put on 30 and 15 days of oppositionist Alexei Navalny for the action “He is not a king for us” on May 5.

The protocol on Ponomarev was drawn up on December 1. As it turned out, the attention of law enforcement agencies attracted the post of human rights activist, who he published on his Facebook page back in October. In it, Ponomarev called to reach the action “For our and your children”, organized in support of the defendants of the Delivee of “Network” and “New Greatness”. The shares were held on October 28 in several cities of Russia, including in Moscow - near the FSB building on Lubyanka (its capital's authorities refused to coordinate, but it was peacefully in the format of a walk, no one was detained).

As a result, the human rights activist was accused of repeated violation of the rules of the public event (part 8 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). As stated in the protocol, the page of the human rights activist, on which he published a post, is open to viewing other Facebook users, and more than 8 thousand people are signed for it. At the same time, the defense in court drew attention to the fact that the authorship of Ponomarev’s post was not proven, in the case file - a photo of the post from the site “Echo of Moscow”, there is no signature there.

This year, Ponomarev was already fined for an unauthorized action. Such a single picket was recognized in support of the two defendants in the case of the “new greatness” of Maria Dubovik and Anna Pavlikova, with whom he went to the building of the Prosecutor General on July 23 ( according to the presidential decree, during the World Cup and until July 25, any public events that were not agreed with the authorities were prohibited. - Ed. ).

The very next day after the arrest, lawyers filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights with a request to immediately intervene in the human rights activist. According to Novaya Gazeta, one of the authors of the appeal, lawyer Alexei Lipzer (he is his native grandson of Ponomarev), Lev Ponomarev was placed in the Moscow special cost No. 1 immediately after the decision was made - i.e. Before its appeal and entry into force, which is illegal and violates its right to freedom (Article 5 of the European Convention). They also pointed out health problems with the human rights activist: Ponomarev is already 77 years old, and he suffers from coronary heart disease. The authors of the appeal challenged the very fact of holding Ponomarev accountable for a post in social networks: in their opinion, this is a violation of the right to freedom of assembly (paragraph 1 of Article 11 of the Convention). Lawyers asked the ECHR to consider the appeal in priority and quickly indicate to the Russian government to the inadmissibility of the content of Ponomarev under arrest.

The court’s decision to send a well -known human rights activist caused indignation from Russian and Western human rights activists. So, the head of the Council for Human Rights under the President of Russia (HRC) Mikhail Fedotov called this measure “inexplicable” and noted that the law gives a very wide range in punishments to “individualize it, taking into account the personality of a person, his age, state of health and the real public danger of the deed”. The international human rights activist also made an appeal to the international human rights organization Amnesty International. “The arrest of a person who devoted his whole life to protect human rights, the Russian authorities demonstrated their contempt for these rights. Throwing him to the bars for a post on Facebook, written in support of a peaceful rally, the authorities show that they will not stop at anything, crushing rights and freedoms in Russia, ”said Natalya Zvyagina, director of the representative office of Amnesty International.

The Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia Tatyana Moskalkova, in turn, turned to the Moscow prosecutor's office with a request to verify the validity of the decision of the Tver court of Moscow on the administrative arrest of Lev Ponomarev. The deputy request was sent to the bodies and Sergey Shargunov.

The defense has already appealed the arrest of a human rights activist in the Moscow City Court. The date of consideration of the complaint has not yet been scheduled.

The associates of Lev Aleksandrovich are sure that Ponomarev’s case is political. Olga Gorelik, an employee of the Human Rights movement, told Novaya Gazeta that Ponomarev was the main applicant of the march “Against fear” against the war and the arbitrariness of the security forces planned on December 16. And December 16 is the eve of the day of the security officer, and the FSB plays a key role in the affairs of the “network” and “new greatness”. “The subtext of the event was obvious,” said Gorelik. Official refusal to the application has not yet arrived, the term of consideration expires only on Thursday. Therefore, Gorelik is sure, Ponomarev was given such a long term of administrative arrest, which excludes any of his civil activity before the New Year.

In his telegram channel, the head of RT Margarita Simonyan wrote the following: “According to my information, Lev Ponomarev“ immediately released ”will not and it seems to be setting up, prescribed 25 days.” Earlier, Simonyan wrote about the case of Raper Husky that after a call from the AP he would be released. So it happened. But Ponomarev, of course, is not Husky.

Lev Ponomarev is a doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, professor. He has been engaged in human rights activities since the 1980s: he participated in the creation of the Memorial Society, the Association of Human Rights Procedure Organizations in the Movement for Human Rights. He was a confidant of Academician Sakharov in the election of people's deputies of the USSR, a deputy and a member of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR. Then he was a deputy of the State Duma of the first convocation. He participated in the associations "Other Russia" and "Solidarity". Since 1997 - Executive Director and Head of the Movement for Human Rights.

Dmitry Gudkov

Politician, chairman of the "Party of Changes"

- Well, what comments can there be? Just scum are insolent. At first they put children for nothing, now a well -known human rights activist, who is generally 77 years old. He is given 25 days for a post with an appeal to go to support children. It seems to me that the system simply flew off the coils and does not understand what it does. Everything will end badly, because the authorities are already hated for trashs, for raising the retirement age, for injustice, for the quality of life. The fact that the system behaves like that is the result of final degradation. This is an inadequate perception of what is happening. They live in some world of permissiveness and impunity and do not understand that the denouement is already nearing.

The authorities, it seems to me, proceeds to the tactics of intimidation of everyone and everything. The street got out of control. The ratings are not growing. Foreign policy conflicts.

If they can close for 25 days per post on Facebook by Leo Ponomarev, who worked with Sakharov, then they can do everything.

Sergey Smirnov

Mediazone editor -in -chief

- What can I say? Monstrous in relation to the seventy -year -old man. To send for posts to Facebook for 25 days - what else to say is monstrous.

He is judged for a call for a public event - judges do not care, they are in force within the framework of the Administrative Code. Sitting stocks a month later is, unfortunately, a normal practice. Alexei Navalny, most often condemned under this article, received a variety of time of the day of arrests. Unfortunately, this is not surprising.

We cannot say for sure what is politically motivated and what is not. The condemnation in itself for the call to the action, of course, is political. People who draw up fines and award a day for a long time do not look at anything.

Ilya Yashin

Policy, municipal deputy

- I think this is arbitrariness. What to comment here? I think, any person, to send for a post for jail for 25 days is arbitrariness. And when this happens with an elderly person - this is demonstrative cynicism. This is an action of intimidation in relation to all people who in one form or another express dissatisfaction with the existing order.

Valery Borschev

Human rights activist, member of the Moscow Helsinki Group, member of the Moscow Public Supervisory Commission

- This is just arbitrariness, I can’t say a different word. I can’t understand what motives are here. Those people who came then [during the campaign “ for your and our children ” on October 28 this year] on Lubyanskaya Square, held quite peacefully. There were no speeches, slogans and performances. People just stood and talked. For some reason, the event is called unauthorized, but then the police had to disperse it, but it did not disperse it. Ponomarev said about the end of the action, and we left. Later, a separate group of people was arrested, but Ponomarev had nothing to do with it.

Such a rigid punishment - 25 days - causes me a dumb! This is another persecution of human rights activists, the threat of a human rights community.

This is a serious signal, because in this case there were no actions that could be regarded as dangerous or related to resistance and disobedience.

Everything went peacefully. I can't understand this. The lion was arrested, for me this is just a shock!

Oleg Elanchik

Expert of the Movement "For Human Rights"

- On December 16, “march for peace was scheduled. Against violence. " Initially, the action was devoted to lawlessness, arbitrariness, provocations and torture of power structures, primarily the FSB, as well as the affairs of “new greatness” and “network”. But the events in the Kerch Strait forced the organizing committee to expand the agenda of the action and add foreign policy there, to express a sharp rejection of the aggression manifested by Russia in relation to Ukraine.

On December 3, the application was scheduled, this was publicly known. It was signed by Valery Borschev, Svetlana Gannushkina, Gennady Gudkov, Leonid Gozman and Lev Ponomarev. He was one of the initiators of the organizing committee and played an active role in it.

On the eve of the presentation, he was detained, and today they arrested. This will in a fatal effect on the application.

Previously, there were cases when the organizer was arrested, and because of this, the action was recognized as illegal. Say, one of the applicants cannot fully fulfill his duties on the organization. The organizing committee, most likely, will have to submit a new notice.

Alexander Verkhovsky

Director of the Information and Analytical Center "Owl"

- There is such a situation in Russia that if there is no coordination of the action, then any person who says: “Let's go!”

There is no peaceful space where you can speak so fearlessly.

Since there are a lot of refusals in agreement, unfortunately, the number of people falling under the law will increase. Despite the fact that in this case the procession passed rather peacefully and safely. But the law is still. He does not distinguish in what form the call to the action was in the leaflet or in the post.