Good News Story
A court in Krasnoyarsk decided to release Aleksei Sokolov on parole on 27 July 2011. He was arrested in May 2009 and sentenced for theft and robbery a year later, on charges that many believed to have been fabricated in response to his human rights work in defence of prisoners' rights. He was allowed to leave the prison colony shortly after the July court hearing and is now back home with his family in Yekaterinburg. Alexei Sokolov had two previous parole applications turned down on the flimsiest of pretexts earlier this year.
When Amnesty International spoke to Aleksei Sokolov he said he was relieved to be able to go back to his wife and children. He thanked Amnesty International and its members as well as the many other human rights organizations that have supported him over the last two years.
Background: Human rights defender Aleksei Sokolov, head and founder of the organization Pravovaia Osnova in Ekarerinburg, was detained on 13 May 2009 and later charged with theft. He was briefly released on 31 July 2009 but detained the same day and charged with robbery in connection with a different incident. He has been kept in detention ever since, including at times without a judicial decision legalizing his prolonged pre-trial detention. On 14 May 2010 he was found guilty of theft and robbery and sentenced to five years imprisonment. Upon appeal his sentence was reduced to three years.
Amnesty International campaigned for his release, considering him 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 in Russia. The Amnesty International Zurich English Group has been working on his case since 2010.
Thank you to everyone who was involved!
