Т. Lokshina, "Demos" Centre: the declarative part of the Dmitrievskiy's sentence is a copy of the prosecutor's speech

"The declarative part of the sentence to Stanislav Dmitrievskiy is a full copy of the presentation of the prosecution case at the hearing," stated today Tatiana Lokshina, chair of the board, Moscow's centre "Demos", by telephone to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. She watched the trial over the human rights activist in the Soviet district court of Nizhni Novgorod,

"The presentation of case by the prosecutor was striking by its groundlessness and bad argumentation. All the charges against Dmitrievskiy were based on the expert study of the texts of the address by separatists' leaders Aslan Maskhadov to the European Parliament and Ahmed Zakaev to the Russian people, published in the newspaper "Pravozaschita" (Human Rights Protection), which he heads. The expert study was ordered by the investigation," stated Natalia Taubina, director of the "Public Verdict" foundation, to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. She attended, in the capacity of an observer, the presentations of cases on the "Dmitrievskiy's case" which took place on January 18 in the Soviet district court of Nizhni Novgorod.

"Nevertheless," continued N. Taubina, "representatives of the prosecutor's office claimed that the Teslenko's expert opinion, made upon the order of the investigating officer, is well-reasoned and of high quality, and must be considered by the court in adopting its ruling. At the same time, the opinion of the other expert, submitted by the defence, according to the prosecution, is groundless, not substantiated, and makes wrong conclusion, while the expert does not possess the required qualification and has no right to conduct expert study of such documents."

According to the human rights activist, Maslova, state prosecutor, called Stanislav Dmitrievskiy "a dangerous person who must be isolated from the society, arguing it by the fact that xenophobic tendencies and extremism have been growing in the country of late, while Dmitrievskiy facilitates fuelling such phenomena."

Stanislav Dmitrievskiy has been convicted today by the Soviet district court of Nizhni Novgorod to two years of suspended imprisonment, with four-year probation, reported Svetlana Gannushkina, chair of the "Civil Assistance" Committee and member of the "Memorial" human rights centre Council, by telephone to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

For reference, on September 2, 2005, Dmitrievskiy was charged under article 282 of RF CC, "actions aimed at stirring hate or hostility, or at humiliation of dignity of a person or a group of persons on the basis of sex, race, nationality, attitude to religion or membership in a social group." The article prescribes a punishment of up to five years of imprisonment. The prosecution asked the court to pass a guilty verdict and impose a punishment of four years in a penal colony for Stanislav Dmitrievskiy.

The criminal proceedings were initiated in January last year after the publication in "Pravozaschita" (Human Rights Protection) newspaper of the address of Aslan Maskhadov and Ahmed Zakaev with calls for a peaceful settlement of the Russian-Chechen conflict.

The publications contained sharp critics of the actions by Russian leadership, Russian armed forces and personally by President Vladimir Putin. The human rights activists believe the charges to Dmitrievskiy to be politically motivated and aimed at liquidation of the constitutional guarantee of the freedom of speech.

On November 15, "International Amnesty" made an open statement in which it expresses its concern about the pressure campaign led by various state institutions with regard to the RChFS and announced its intention to consider Dmitrievskiy prisoner of conscience in case he is convicted.