Rights defender Nagavkin asks Putin to send colony inmates to Anapa

In a letter to the Russian President, Igor Nagavkin, a convicted human rights defender, has offered to involve prisoners from the penal colonies in the liquidation of the environmental disaster in Kuban (the Krasnodar Territory) and expressed his desire to go to Anapa; he himself has expressed his readiness to take part in cleaning the beaches voluntarily and free of charge.

Former sailors and environmentalists have pointed out that the ongoing liquidation of the fuel oil (mazut) spill is inefficient; after a month, the fuel oil has not even been pumped out of the grounded tanker. It is unclear what the funds are spent on; most of the problems are solved by volunteers, who have expressed their disappointment after a month of fruitless efforts.

"Igor has always defended the rights of residents of our region to a favourable environment, and advocated for the environment. He cannot sit idle in a colony when a tragedy occurred on the Black Sea shore," a Nagavkin's friend has explained.

Roman Melnichenko, a lawyer, has doubted the efficiency of such appeals.

"For some reason, it is generally accepted that the President of the Russian Federation can do anything with one wave of his hand, but this is not so. The powers of the Russian President are clearly spelled out in the Constitution and constitutional laws; and his right to release or redirect prisoners from one place to another is not recorded there," the lawyer has noted.

However, in his opinion, there are legal grounds for sending prisoners as volunteers to clean beaches: a convict may be allowed to travel outside the colony 'for the duration of his annual paid leave'."