Amnesty International is concerned that Aleksei Sokolov may be a prisoner of conscience detained solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression in the course of his lawful human rights activities.
Demand a Fair Appeal for Aleksei Sokolov
Human Rights Activist Aleksei Sokolov was sentenced on 13 May 2010, to serve five years in a high security prison colony for theft allegedly committed in 2001 and for robbery allegedly committed in 2004. The court found him not guilty in another robbery he was charged with.
His appeal was to be heard on 16 July 2010 but the Sverdlovsk Regional Court postponed the hearing until 18 August 2010. The official reason for postponing the hearing was that allegedly, Aleksei Sokolov’s co-defendents did not have lawyers to represent them. However, his defence team think that the real reason behind it could be the international and media attention on the case.
According to Aleksei Sokolov’s lawyers, the Bogdanovich town court in the Sverdlovsk region of Russia based its verdict solely on the statements of the co-accused in the case who are already serving prison sentences for other crimes. During the trial, the defence lawyers pointed out that these statements often contradicted each other as well as earlier ‘confesions’ of the co-accused. One of his lawyers said that while victims of the crimes identified the other defendants in the case as possible perpetrators of the crime, none of them identified Aleksei Sokolov. The court nevertheless considered there to be enough evidence to convict Aleksei Sokolov.
Aleksei Sokolov’s lawyer also reported a number of violations of criminal procedure in the handling of the case throughout the pre-trial and trial stage.
Risk of Torture and other Ill-Treatment
Torture and ill-treatment in places of detention in Russia is a serious issue of concern to Amnesty International. Aleksei Sokolov is one of those human rights activists who campaigned against and exposed cases of torture and other ill-treatment in prison colonies and by the police in Sverdlovsk Region.
Sources close to Aleksei Sokolov have told Amnesty International that his detention conditions have deteriorated. According to reports, his diet is very meagre and, allegedly, the food that his family sends to him is being confiscated or chopped up so much that it becomes inedible. These sources also report that the length of his walks has been shortened to half an hour each day.
Human Rights Activities
Aleksei Sokolov is a founder and the head of the Russian human rights organization Pravovaia Osnova (Legal Base) which campaigns against torture and other ill-treatment of detainees in the Russian Federation. The work of Legal Base brought about several investigations against law enforcement officers on allegations including the use of torture to coerce suspects to "confess."
Aleksei Sokolov became prominent after he publicized and distributed a film about torture and other ill-treatment in a temporary holding centre in prison colony IK-2 in Yekaterinburg. The film received wide coverage, both in Russia and internationally, and led to the closure of the temporary holding centre.
He was also investigating possible corruption in some law-enforcement agencies in Yekaterinburg: some officials, according to his findings, had helped to cover up impunity in the temporary holding centre in Yekaterinburg.
In 2008 Aleksei Sokolov was appointed a member of the Public Commission for the control of places of detention and conducted a series of visits to detention facilities in this capacity. He got suspended from this position following his detention in May 2009.
In 2008 he learned that several prisoners were being pressured into claiming falsely that he had been involved in crimes including the robbery in 2004, on suspicion of which he has been in custody since 13 May 2009. Investigations into the theft in 2001 and the robbery in 2004 had been closed several times because the perpetrators could not be identified, but were re-opened shortly before Aleksei Sokolov’s arrest.
When in July 2009 the Sverdlovsk Regional Court ordered that he should be discharged until his trial, instead of being released, the police told him that he was then arrested on suspicion of another robbery committed in 2004. Later prosecution added charges of theft of metal pipes from a factory in 2001.
Shortly after his detention, police allegedly threatened to torture him because of his work in defence of human rights.
For further information, please see:
Russian Federation: Demand a Fair Appeal for Aleksei Sokolov: Further Information (Index EUR 46/016/2010), May 2010; Russian Human Rights Defender Jailed for Five Years, May 2010; Russia Must Stop Persecution of Rights Activists, December 2009.
