Human rights activist in Orel Alexei Sokolov was accused of "treason" due to reports of violations of prisoners' rights.
The reason for the accusations of "high treason" against Yekaterinburg human rights activist Alexei Sokolov were his reports for the years 2023-2024, which he sent to the "Norwegian Helsinki Committee"**. They talked about human rights violations in pre-trial detention centers and colonies. The human rights activist pleaded not guilty.
According to the indictment, in April 2022, Sokolov agreed to assist the commission, which, according to the prosecutor's office, "put pressure on the Russian Federation by exploiting human rights issues." He received a $30,000 grant for a project to protect the rights of sick prisoners and signed a confidential cooperation agreement. According to investigators, he collected and documented data on violations committed by FSIN employees, and then sent complaints to the authorities.
"Treason", according to the lawsuit, is that an "undesirable" organization, which uses a human rights activist, based on his reports, "discredits the activities of the Russian authorities". This apparently led to conclusions about the need to bring the Russian leadership to an international court and expand the sanctions.
Alexey Sokolov has been defending the rights of prisoners since 2005. In October 2023, he served 5 days of detention for publishing an "extremist" logo, and in July 2024 he was arrested under the article of "representation of symbols". This case was the first case of criminal prosecution in Russia for displaying a social network icon. As a result, he was sentenced to two years of hard labor.
Archive photo from RusNews.
- recognized by the Russian authorities as foreign agents.
- Recognized by the authorities of the Russian Federation as an undesirable organization.