Larisa Zakharova, a participant in the “Human Rights Defenders of the Urals” project, was released from pre-trial detention center under a ban on certain actions

Judge of the Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg Vladimir Ushakov softened the measure of restraint for 58-year-old participant of the project “Human Rights Defenders of the Urals” Larisa Zakharova from arrest to a ban on certain actions. This was reported by a Mediazona correspondent from the courtroom.

Zakharova is prohibited from using the Internet, as well as visiting FSIN institutions and “events related to the activities of non-profit organizations.” Calls without the consent of the investigator are allowed only to call an ambulance.

The meeting to change the preventive measure was held behind closed doors due to the secrecy of the investigation.

As Mediazona found out, the investigator made a petition to change the preventive measure. She motivated this by the fact that “the grounds for detention have disappeared.” For the last three months, Zakharova has been sitting in a cell alone.

Larisa Zakharova is accused of organizing the work of an “undesirable” organization (Part 3 of Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code). The media wrote that the charges were related to grants from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the National Endowment for Democracy.

Human rights activist Roman Kachanov is involved in the same case; he was also recently released under a ban on certain actions. He was released under house arrest because he admitted guilt, Vecherniye Vedomosti claims . According to Kommersant, before being released under house arrest, Kachanov testified against another arrested human rights activist, Alexei Sokolov.

Alexey Sokolov remains in pre-trial detention. Sokolov is accused of treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code), and not of organizing an “undesirable organization.” The charges, he argued before the court as he was detained, were related to the fact that he shared information about torture in Russia with foreign organizations, which, according to the FSB, created a “security threat” for the state.

In addition, another criminal case is being considered against Sokolov - about the display of the Facebook logo in posts of the channel “Human Rights Defenders of the Urals”.