Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09YEKATERINBURG55
2009-08-10 10:21:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Yekaterinburg
Cable title:  

UPDATE ON THE ARREST OF ANDREY SOKOLOV

Tags:  PGOV PHUM SOCI RS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8584
PP RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYG #0055 2221021
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 101021Z AUG 09
FM AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1351
INFO RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0996
RUEHLN/AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 0587
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 0597
RUEHYG/AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 1388
UNCLAS YEKATERINBURG 000055 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DRL FOR S. CORKE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI RS
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON THE ARREST OF ANDREY SOKOLOV

REF: A. A) YEKAT 30

B. B) YEKAT 54

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.

UNCLAS YEKATERINBURG 000055

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DRL FOR S. CORKE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI RS
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON THE ARREST OF ANDREY SOKOLOV

REF: A. A) YEKAT 30

B. B) YEKAT 54

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION.


1. (U) This is an action request for DRL. See paragraph 5.


2. (SBU) Pol/Econ officer met with the lawyer representing
arrested prisoners' rights activist Alexey Sokolov (see ref A)
on August 5 for an update on the case. The court allowed
Sokolov's release on bail on July 31 but he was rearrested the
same day on suspicion of participation in the theft of petroleum
products from an oil pipeline in 2004. Both crimes were
allegedly committed by the same criminal group, of which Sokolov
was allegedly a member. All other members of the group have
already been convicted and cases involving Sokolov were closed
in 2005. Sokolov assured his lawyer that he is not being
mistreated and has enough to eat. With this latest detention,
however, he is not allowed to read newspapers or magazines.
Further hearings in the case will probably not be scheduled
until the end of August.


3. (SBU) Law enforcement officers informed Sokolov's lawyer
unofficially that there may be 22 additional cases in which
Sokolov could be implicated. The information on these cases was
received from a witness currently serving jail time. A second
witness against Sokolov was found hung in his jail cell in June.
The lawyer told us that charges in the additional cases against
Sokolov, who previously served a seven-year sentence, were
dismissed in 2004-2005; Sokolov's lawyer is convinced that his
client's activity in defense of prisoners' rights has made him
the target of law enforcement agencies. There is speculation
that the harassment of Sokolov is being instigated at the
federal level. We were told that Sokolov's activism angered an
LDPR State Duma deputy who is head of the duma Federal Security
Committee. The Urals region PolPred office is also said to
support the police against Sokolov, although the prosecutor
reportedly was ready to free Sokolov on bail.


4. (SBU) Since 2008 Sokolov has been a member of the Sverdlovsk
Regional Committee for Public Observance of Human Rights in
Penitentiaries. Regional committees were created by the Russian
Federation Public Chamber. The committees have unrestricted
access to penitentiaries and may visit detention centers without
prior notification. Incrimination of a committee member results
in the suspension of the member; upon being charged with a
crime, Sokolov lost access to penitentiaries, a possible motive
to keep him in custody. Another member of the Sverdlovsk
Committee, Dmitry Rogozhin, has also been accused of a crime;
although he has not yet been arrested, he is not allowed to
leave the country.


5. (U) Action Request: Sokolov's modest income from his Legal
Basis NGO was the family's sole income. His wife Gulya and
two-year-old daughter are now in difficult circumstances.
Although Sutyazhnik and Za Prava Chelovyeka NGOs have opened a
bank account for public donations for legal defense and to
support Sokolov's family, donations are not exactly pouring in.
At the same time, the case requires more sophisticated legal
assistance as new "confessions" and accusations emerge. Post
requests DRL assistance in applying for a Human Rights Defenders
Fund grant to help support Sokolov's family and legal defense.
Post point of contact is Pol/Econ officer Carol Trimble
(trimblec@state.gov).

SANDUSKY