There are 46 political prisoners in Russia - Memorial
MOSCOW. Oct 30 (Interfax) - The human rights center Memorial said in a statement there are 46 political prisoners in Russia.
"On the list published today there are 46 of them," Memorial said in its report.
The Russian authorities have more than once denied the existence of political prisoners in Russia.
Memorial said in its report that among the political prisoners are opposition activists Alexei Navalny, Sergei Udaltsov, Leonid Razvozzhayev, former Yukos official Alexei Pichugin, other Russia activist Taisia Osipova, and also "Bolotnaya case" suspects, in particular, Sergei Krivov, Stepan Zimin, and Alexei Gaskarov.
Memorial published its new list on October 30, the Day of Memory of Victims of Political Repression.
Memorial said in its statement that there were 71 people on the list of political prisoners in Russia a year ago.
"The serious decrease in the number of political prisoners is due to the amnesty, which affected 35 people on this year's list, who are members of the Arctic Sunrise crew. Another two people, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, were pardoned and ten people walked free because they had served their term, were released on parole, or were given punishment not involving imprisonment," Memorial said.
The human rights activists said 24 new names were added to the list in the course of the past year.
The human rights center Memorial was put on the list of NGOs that are foreign agents by the Russian authorities.
The center Memorial is part of the society Memorial, which comprises dozens of regional organizations. The Russian Supreme Court will try the lawsuit filed by the Justice Ministry seeking the closure of the society Memorial on November 13. The Justice Ministry also has problems with the structure of the human rights organization.