Paul
Goble
Staunton, November 21 – Following an
announcement that embattled environmental activist Yevgeny Vitishko would take
part in the All-Russia Civic Forum in Moscow this weekend, Russian prosecutors
appealed the decision of a Tambov court to release him today. As a result, he will remain in prison for the
time being.
The prosecutors were apparently
upset not only by Vitishko’s plan to take part in that meeting (ewnc.org/node/20086) but also by an
interview he gave from the camp where he has been held since 2014 for exposing environmental
crimes by officials in the run up to the Sochi Olympiad (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2015/11/vitishko-in-advance-of-release-from.html).
The latest twist in this story was
reported by Openinform.ru, which cited Vitishko’s lawyer, Sergey Loktyev. The attorney
said that Vitishko would not be released today as had been expected because of
an appeal by Russian prosecutors. He said that the latter were ostensibly
concerned about only “technical” issues (openinform.ru/news/prison/20.11.2015/31353/).
But Loktyev said that he and his
client “consider the unexpected turn of events in this case to be connected
with the announcement that Vitishko would speak at the All-Russian Civic Forum
which will take place in Moscow November 21-22.” He said that the environmental
analyst had planned to fly there before returning home to Tuapse.
The Tambov court has scheduled a
hearing on the prosecutors’ appeal for December 3, at which time the judges can
either decide to release Vitishko or keep him in prison (ewnc.org/node/20049).
Vladimir Putin received positive
media coverage when he suggested several weeks ago that Vitishko should be
released. But there is a high probability that the actions of his subordinates
to prevent that will receive equal time or lead to the conclusion that this is
another case of the Kremlin leader’s duplicity and media manipulation.
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