18:02, 25 September 2020

Case against Anastasia Shevchenko based on application of Associate Professor of Rostov University

Anastasia Shevchenko and her advocate Sergei Badamshin. Photo by Konstantin Volgin for the "Caucasian Knot"

At the trial of Anastasia Shevchenko's case, Alexander Basan, an Associate Professor of the Southern Federal University, said that he had lodged an application against her to the Prosecutor's Office after a public debates in Taganrog with her participation. At the same time, Basan admitted that he had not heard calls for the overthrow of the ruling power at those debates.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported, Anastasia Shevchenko, a member of the federal board of "The Open Russia" (recognized as undesirable by the Russian General Prosecutor's Office), has been under house arrest since January 2019. On June 17, 2020, she refused to admit her guilt of participating in the activities of a foreign organization, undesirable in Russian territory.

Shevchenko's case was the first in Russia to be initiated under a criminal article on the activities of an undesirable organization. The Amnesty International and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" recognized Anastasia to be a political prisoner. Participants of the roundtable "Political Prisoners in Russia in 2019" have treated her case as one of the most illustrative examples of strengthening political repressions in Russia.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 25, 2020 at 04:02 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Konstantin Volgin

Source: CK correspondent