In Krasnodar, activities of EcoWatch paralyzed after search

Law enforcers seized information carriers and mobile phones from the office of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" (EcoWatch) and thus paralyzed the NGO's activities, stated Andrei Rudomakha, the coordinator of the EcoWatch.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that today, law enforcers conducted searches in the EcoWatch office and seized PCs and office equipment. Activist Viktor Chirikov associates the law enforcers' actions with the cooperation between the EcoWatch and Yana Antonova, the coordinator of the Open Russia* in the Krasnodar Territory, whose apartment has also been searched today.

At 6:00 a.m., OMON (riot police) fighters broke into the building where the EcoWatch office was located and broke a door into the house, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Andrei Rudomakha, the coordinator of the EcoWatch.

"They wanted to take out our PCs, but I told them that they could take only hard disks. They agreed, seized all the hard disks, all the mobile phones, and flash drives," said Andrei Rudomakha.

"Our activities have been completely blocked. We associate the law enforcers' actions with our investigation into the construction of the road from the village of Chernigovskoye to Dagomys, which leads to the 'Lunnaya Polyana' elite resort," noted Andrei Rudomakha.

Meanwhile, Andrei Rudomakha does not rule out the connection between the persecution of EcoWatch and the Open Russia*. "I am sure that they have decided to close not only the Open Russia*, but us also," said the coordinator of the EcoWatch.

* The activities of two organizations under the name of ‘Open Russia’ are banned in Russia by the court decision

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 9, 2019 at 04:49 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.