29 April 2015

Source: HRO.org (info)

• Krasnodar  Prisoners  Artistic freedom

Secretary of the Public Oversight Commission in Krasnodar region, Elena Malina, has visited the women jailed for dancing near the ‘Small Land’ military memorial in Novorossiisk: Margarita Radetskaya, Ekaterina Shcherdinskaya and Yana Kutakova.

Radio Svoboda reports that, according to Elena Malina, the young women are in a depressed state.

"They did not get in touch with us, they are feeling depressed,” Elena Malina said. “They refused the services of a lawyer from Public Verdict Foundation that we proposed, and rejected the offer of legal support.

One of their lawyers advised them not to appeal against the sentence. They were even agreeable to having to spend three or so days in jail, but they cannot understand why they have been given such long terms."

The women are being held in a special detention facility of the Novorossiisk police department. Elena Malina says that the three are being held in a cell with room for four people.

The secretary of the Krasnodar Public Oversight Commission stressed that the jailed women can see a lawyer every day, can have visits from relatives and friends, and more over have the right to a 15-minute daily phone call.

Elena Malina says that the reason for the Commission’s inspection was a complaint by human rights defenders who pointed out that there had not been any inspection of the detention facility for a long time..

On 11 April 2015 members of an amateur dance club in Novorossiisk made a video where members danced against the background of the war memorial ‘Small Land’ in Novorossiisk.

Later the police from the city’s southern district charged the participants with violating Article 20.1, section 1, of the Administrative Code, ‘petty hooliganism’.

On 25 April 2015 the October district court in Novorossiisk sentenced the leader of the club, Margarita Radetskaya, to 15 days in jail and her friends Yana Kutakova and Katya Shcherbedinskaya to 10 days in jail. Two other members of the group, Alla Korkach and Viktoriya Yurieva were each fined 1,000 roubles.

The parents of Dina G., a minor, are currently being prosecuted for the administrative offence of ‘failing to carry out duties related to bringing up minors’.