View of Yekaterinburg. UN experts: Russia should release human rights activist Alexei Sokolov, arrested for posting Facebook logo Human Rights
Russia should immediately and unconditionally release human rights activist Alexei Sokolov and drop criminal charges against him, independent UN experts said on Friday.
According to a statement by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation Mariana Katsarova and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor, Yekaterinburg-based human rights defender Alexey Sokolov was arbitrarily detained on 5 July 2024 on charges of “repeatedly publicly displaying symbols of an extremist organisation”, specifically for posting the Facebook logo online. In March 2022, a Moscow court banned Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, from operating in Russia for “extremist activity”, accusing it of allowing “fake news” about the Russian military to be posted on its channels.
“Alexey Sokolov’s work is critical in highlighting abuses in Russian prisons, in particular the ongoing torture and ill-treatment of detainees and prisoners,” the experts said. “His arrest on charges of posting the Facebook logo on his organisation’s website and Telegram channel violates his right to freedom of opinion and expression and appears to be another attempt by Russian authorities to punish him for his legitimate and peaceful human rights work to protect the rights of prisoners in Russia,” they added.
The head of the public organization “Legal Basis” and a former member of the Public Monitoring Commission for the Control of Places of Deprivation of Liberty in the Sverdlovsk Region, Sokolov dedicated his life to combating human rights violations in places of deprivation of liberty in Russia, the Special Rapporteurs said in a statement. In 2015, the organization was recognized by the authorities as a “foreign agent.”
According to experts, during the arrest on July 5, law enforcement officers searched Sokolov’s apartment in Yekaterinburg and subjected him to beatings and threats.
“The police search of the home of a human rights defender and the seizure of confidential documents signed by victims of human rights violations that allow him to present their complaints to UN human rights mechanisms, and the publication of these documents as ‘evidence’ of his links to foreign intelligence services, raise serious concerns that Alexey Sokolov has been subjected to reprisals for cooperating with the UN, which could deter others from engaging with UN mechanisms,” the Special Rapporteurs stressed.
“The arbitrary arrest and detention of Alexey Sokolov is yet another example of the severe repression of freedom of opinion and expression in Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,” they said.
According to their statement, this repression targets the activities of civil society organizations, human rights defenders, independent media and dissidents in Russia with the aim of suppression of human rights activities and anti-war statements.
Experts called on Russian authorities to stop intimidating and persecuting those who seek to cooperate with UN human rights bodies and mechanisms. An appeal challenging Sokolov’s pre-trial detention was filed on July 11, but a hearing date has not yet been set. The experts have already contacted the government regarding the Sokolov case on July 23, 2024.
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Special rapporteurs and working groups are part of the so-called special procedures of the Human Rights Council. They are not UN staff and are independent of any government or organization. They serve in their personal capacity and do not receive a salary for their work.