Paul
Goble
Staunton, June 27 – A sad case in
the history of the defense of the rights of prisoners in Russia has ended in a
way far less disastrous than it appeared it would only a few days ago. The
Sitting Russia group long devoted to protecting the rights of prisoners was
forced to suspend operations, but its activists pledge to continue to fight for
those who often have no other defense.
The organization lost a suit brought
against it by a former staffer who charged that he had been wrongly accused and
faced such an insurmountable debt as a result that it could not hope to continue
its work in the form that it had. But its leader, Olga Romanova, says that its employees
while having their pay cut will continue to work.
The former staffer, she says, violated
the organization’s rules but won in court and has forced Sitting Russia to
suspend its operations in its current form and to appeal to its supporters not
to make contributions until things are clarified because it is unclear where
they will end up – for the group’s purpose or for the disgruntled former employee.
Nonetheless, the needs of prisoners
and their families are no less, and those who have sought to help them under
the banner of Sitting Russia since its founding in 2008 will continue to do
what they can with the means they have (mbk-news.appspot.com/suzhet/olga-romanova/,
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