Source: HRO.org (info), 25/09/12 

· Right of assembly  · Partners’ actions  · Persecution of activists . Public protests 

Well-known cultural figures and civic activists demand an impartial investigation into 6 May events on Bolotnaya Square. Among those who have signed the open letter are Boris Strugatsky, Ludmila Ulitskaya, Viktor Shenderovich, Sergei Shargunov and Dmitry Bykov. 

The collection of signatures was announced on the website of the movement For Human Rights. By the time of the publication of this text the number of signatories had reached 1000.

“Charging a large number of people with mass disorder,” the letter states, “has enabled the opening of an unprecedentedly large-scale criminal investigation, which, we are sure, is of a solely political nature. Its aim is to frighten, or even to begin criminal prosecution of, the central figures of the protest movement”.

The signatories demand that the authorities stop the criminal investigation under Article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (mass disorder) because there is no evidence of a crime having been committed. They call for the release of all detainees, the launching of an immediate inquiry into the claims of those who have been victims of police action, and the guarantee of a thorough and impartial review of the charges against the demonstrators charged under Article 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (use of violence against a representative of authority).

The text of the letter is available at: http://zaprava.ru/index.php?option=com_petitions&view=petition&id=136