Sergei Kovalev’s address to the European Parliament after accepting the Sakharov Prize. Strasbourg, 16 December 2009

City officials are seeking to evict two of the most prominent Russian human rights organizations - the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG) and the movement For Human Rights - from their offices in central Moscow. Campaign in support of the Moscow Helsinki Group and For Human Rights.

An appeal "Stop the disgraceful farce!", adopted at the Public Hearings "Six years of imprisonment of Khodorkovsky-Lebedev:  a crisis of power, the judicial system, society?", which took place on 23 October 2009 in the Andrei Sakharov Museum and Public Centre, was made public on 2 November. It is addressed to the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Russia Viacheslav Lebedev, President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, president of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the RF Yevgeny Semenyako, as well as the President of the RSPP Alexander Shokhin and chairman of «Delovaya Rossiya» Boris Titov.  Several hundred signatures have already been gathered under the appeal, first and foremost those of participants in the public monitoring of the Lebedev – Khodorkovsky trial.  The process of gathering signatures continues.

We are deeply concerned by an opening of a criminal case against Oleg Orlov, head of Human Rights Center "Memorial", recipient of the European Parliament's 2009 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

Yelena Ryabinina: On 29 October 2009 the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan (part of the Russian Federation) passed sentence in the case where the 12 defendants were charged with involvement in the banned organization Hizb-ut-Tahrir. The hearings had lasted 8 months.

On Moscow’s Lubyanka Square throughout the day people are taking part in the annual act of remembrance “Return of the names”. Taking turns, all those who wish to take part in the action near the Solovky Stone on Lubyanka Square (opposite the Security Service, now FSB) between 10.00 and 22.00 read aloud the list of victims of Stalin’s repressions. They read the first and last name, age, profession and date of execution.

Renowned Turkmen Environmentalist, Andrey Zatoka, Sentenced to Five Years in Prison.

"We are writing to express our concern about the October 20, 2009 arrest of Mr. Andrey Zatoka, who is being detained in prison..."