Case History: Evgeny Vitishko
Along with colleagues from the NGO Environmental Watch on North Caucasus, Evgeny Vitishko had protested against the environmental impact of rampant construction and deforestation ahead of the Sochi games.
He was given a three-year jail sentence in Russia’s remote Tambov region - more than 600 miles from the environmentalist’s home - for allegedly damaging a fence that was concealing illegal construction in a protected forested area. He was also jailed for 15 days on trumped-up charges of “hooliganism" after he was accused of "swearing at a bus stop”.
He released from a remote prison colony in November 2015 after spending more than a year-and-a-half there after a string of trumped-up charges were brought against him in the run-up to the Sochi Winter Olympic Games in February 2014.
Evgeny Vitishko is an environmental rights defender with Environmental Watch on North Caucasus (EWNC), a Russian-based non-profit organisation that works to protect the environment of the Caucasus region since 1997. He is actively involved in monitoring the environmental impact of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games preparations.
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- 13 10 2014 : Environmental rights defender Mr Evgeny Vitishko to be transferred to penal colony with stricter detention regime
- 26 9 2014 : Court rejects Prosecutor's request to release human rights defender Evgeny Vitishko from penal colony
- 7 8 2014 : Human rights defender Mr Evgeny Vitishko undergoes series of administrative punishments in detention
- 27 2 2014 : Incommunicado detention of human rights defender Mr Evgeny Vitishko
- 14 2 2014 : Human rights defender Mr Evgeny Vitishko to serve three-year sentence in penal colony
- 20 12 2013 : Suspended sentence of environmental human rights defender, Mr Evgeny Vitishko, converted to prison sentence in colony
- 3 12 2013 : Risk of imprisonment for environmental rights defender, Mr Evgeny Vitishko
On 8 October 2014, Tambov Regional Penal Service officials informed the regional Public Observation Commission for detention facilities that imprisoned environmental rights defender Mr Evgeny Vitishko is set to be transferred to another penal colony with a more strict regime.
Evgeny Vitishko is an environmental rights defender with Environmental Watch on North Caucasus (EWNC), a non-profit organisation that works to protect the environment in the Caucasus region since 1997. He was actively involved in monitoring the environmental impact of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games and was imprisoned at the time of the Sochi Olympics.
On 24 September 2014, the Krasnodar Regional Court dismissed the Prosecution's request for release and ruled that the human rights defender should remain in detention to serve a three-year prison term. The human rights defender had been temporarily transferred to Tambov pre-trial prison to participate in the court hearing by video link. After the verdict, on 29 September Evgeny Vitishko was escorted back to his penal colony. Since this ruling, the human rights defender's lawyers, relatives and colleagues have not been allowed to communicate with him.
After a number of inquiries by his organisation and his lawyers, on 8 October 2014 the Tambov regional Penal Service officials informed the regional Public Observation Commission for detention facilities that Evgeny Vitishko is set to be transferred to another penal colony with a more strict regime. However, such transfer requires a court's ruling finding that he is a “repeat offender”, and such ruling has not been obtained.
According to Evgeny Vitishko's lawyer, he was reprimanded at least three times recently for allegedly “failing to greet the director of the penal colony” and for storing his food “in an inappropriate place”. However, it is believed that the human rights defender is persecuted for his attempts to defend prisoners' rights and for his complaints regarding administrative abuses within the penal colony.
Front Line Defenders is concerned about the possible transfer of Evgeny Vitishko to a stricter detention regime and believes this to be in retaliation for his human rights work.
On 24 September 2014, the Krasnodar Regional Court ruled to leave human rights defender Mr Evgeny Vitishko in penal colony where he is serving a three-year prison term.
The Court's Praesidium dismissed an appeal by the Regional Prosecutor's Office to release Evgeny Vitishko. The Prosecutor's Office had requested his release on the basis that an earlier ruling withdrawing the suspension of his sentence was unfounded. The lawyers of the human rights defender will appeal the ruling in Russia's Supreme Court.
Evgeny Vitishko is an environmental rights defender with Environmental Watch on North Caucasus (EWNC), a non-profit organisation that works to protect the environment in the Caucasus region since 1997. He was actively involved in monitoring the environmental impact of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games and was imprisoned at the time of the Sochi Olympics.
On 20 June 2012, Evgeny Vitishko received a suspended sentence of three years in prison with two years' probation after being found guilty of “causing significant damage to private property” under section 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code. On 20 December 2013, Tuapse City Court upheld a request from Regional Penitentiary Service and ruled to withdraw the suspension of the human rights defender's sentence, and thus imprison him, for alleged breach of curfew. On 12 February 2014, Krasnodar Regional Court upheld this ruling and the human rights defender was escorted to a penal colony.
After a number of petitions were addressed to the authorities, the Prosecutor's Office reviewed the circumstances of the imprisonment and considered that the withdrawal of the suspension of the sentence was unjustified. As a result, on 7 April 2014, the Regional Prosecutor's Office appealed to the Presidium of Krasnodar Regional Court to re-examine the previous ruling and release the human rights defender. The first court hearing was scheduled for 16 July 2014 but was postponed twice until September.
Evgeny Vitishko participated to the court hearing of 24 September 2014 by video link. The judges ruled to that the human rights defender should remain in detention, without providing any explanation in the court room. The lawyer of Evgeniy Vitishko also petitioned the judges to re-examine his first sentence but the board of judges rejected the request.
Evgeny Vitishko was harassed by the administration of the penal colony, that threatened to transfer him to another colony with a more strict detention regime. The human rights defender was reprimanded at least five times by the administration of the penal colony alleged violations of internal rules.
On 31 July, 2014, the administration of penal colony settlement No. 2 in Tambov region ordered Mr Evgeny Vitishko to three days' solitary confinement in a punishment cell for “incorrect storage” of his personal food, which is a violation of penal colony rules. Evgeny Vitishko began a hunger strike in the punishment cell to protest against this ruling, which followed a number of other previous actions by prison authorities against the human rights defender.
Evgeny Vitishiko is an environmental rights defender with Environmental Watch on North Caucasus (EWNC), a Russian-based non-profit organisation that works to protect the environment of the Caucasus region since 1997. He was actively involved in monitoring the environmental impact of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games preparations.
Since being released from the punishment cell on 3 August 2014, Evgeny Vitishko has received a fifth reprimand from penal colony's administration on 5 August 2014; this time for “sleeping in the punishment cell” during the daytime. The human rights defender ceased his hunger strike on 6 August 2014 in light of risks to his health, as well as direct and indirect threats made by both the administration and fellow prisoners. Reportedly, the colony's administration has forced other prisoners to file numerous complaints against the human rights defender. In July 2014, the human rights defender was reprimanded for having a “careless attitude to work” and for “refusing to greet the prison guard”, despite reports that Evgeny Vitishko had actually greeted the prison guard ten minutes previously.
On 20 May 2014, Evgeny Vitishko witnessed the mass beating of prisoners by prison guards following an inspection of the penal colony. On 21 May 2014, he filed complaints about the incident to Russia's federal Ombudsperson, the Regional Prosecutor's Office and the Governor of the Penal Colony. However, the prison guards involved in the indiscriminate and excessive violence have not been disciplined or prosecuted and the prisoners who were victims of this violence were transferred to other penal colonies with stricter regimes.
On 10 June 2014, Evgeny Vitishko was moved without his consent to a different worksite in the penal colony, where prisoners are forced to carry out farming labour. On 18 July 2014, the human rights defender addressed another complaint to the Regional Prosecutor’s Office describing how prisoners are forced to work every day from 7 am until 8 pm without adequate equipment and with no drinking water.
Evgeny Vitishko was sentenced in June 2012 but the sentence was suspended. On 20 December 2013, the Tuapse District Court ruled to revoke the suspension of the sentence and ordered Evgeny Vitishko to serve the three-year prison term. This ruling was upheld by Krasnodar Regional Court on 12 February 2014. On 7 April 2014, the Krasnodar Regional Prosecutor’s Office decided to re-examine the revocation of the suspension of the sentence. A hearing in Krasnodar Regional Court was scheduled for 16 July 2014, but has since been postponed indefinitely.
On 24 February 2014, the family and lawyers of human rights defender Mr Evgeny Vitishko were informed that he is no longer detained in the pre-trial detention centre N1 of the Krasnodar region where he has been detained since 18 February.
No information on his whereabouts is available to date, and his family and lawyers have not had any access to him since 21 February 2014.
Evgeny Vitishko is an environmental rights defender working with Environmental Watch on North Caucasus (EWNC), an independent group that published a report on environmental damage caused by preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. For years, the group has led protests and repeatedly spoken out publicly on these issues. Its members have previously been subjected to threats and harassment due to their work.
On 24 February 2014, whilst trying to give a parcel to him, a colleague of Egveny Vitishko was informed that he is no longer in pre-trial detention centre N1, and that he will serve his sentence in a penal colony outside of the Krasnodar region. The authorities refused to inform the family and lawyers of Evgeny Vitishko as to which colony he is being taken to. The last contact with the human rights defender took place on 21 February, when he was visited by his lawyer Ms Marina Dubrovina.
On 3 February 2014, just a day before the Olympic torch arrived in Sochi, Evgeny Vitishko was arrested and subsequently convicted of petty hooliganism for allegedly swearing at a bus stop. He was sentenced to fifteen days to be served in the temporary detention centre at Tuapse. On 12 February 2014, an appeal hearing pertaining to a separate case which had been due to take place on 22 February was brought forward. At the hearing, the Krasnodar Appeals Court ruled to uphold a decision to enact a June 2012 three-year suspended sentence against the human rights defender, which pertained to his allegedly causing criminal damage to property. On 20 December 2013, the suspended sentence had been converted to a real sentence to be served in penal colony. Evgeny Vitishko was only allowed to participate in this appeal hearing via video-conference from Tuapse city court.
On 17 February 2014, a special hearing was held to decide how to enforce the Krasnodar court's ruling, and the same judge ordered that the human rights defender was to be sent to a penal colony in convoy. Neither Evgeny Vitishko nor his lawyers were notified of this special hearing. On 18 February 2014, after serving his administrative sentence and instead of being released, Evgeny Vitishko was transferred to pre-detention centre N1 in the Krasnodar region. Yet again, no one was notified of this, and it took some time and effort for his lawyers to locate Evgeny Vitishko's whereabouts.
All of the legal action described above took place in the context of the Sochi Olympics, and has been viewed as an attempt to silence the human rights defender, as well as his organisation. Front Line Defenders has previously issued urgent appeals and updates on the case of Evgeny Vitishko.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned that the arrest, detention and sentencing of Evgeny Vitishko were solely motivated by his work on environmental and human rights in the context of the Sochi Olympics; that his right to a fair trail was repeatedly violated; and that his whereabouts remain unknown to his family and lawyers.
On 12 February 2014, the Krasnodar Appeals Court ruled to uphold a decision to enact a three-year custodial sentence against environmental human rights defender Mr Evgeny Vitishko. He will now be transferred to a penal colony to serve out the remainder of his sentence.
On 3 February 2014, the day before the Olympic torch arrived in Sochi, Evgeny Vitishko was arrested along with six other members of Environmental Watch on North Caucasus (EWNC), who were later released. However, that same day, Evgeny Vitishko was convicted of petty hooliganism for allegedly swearing at a bus stop and sentenced to fifteen days in detention. The appeal of 12 February 2014 was due to be held on 22 February 2014 but was brought forward when the human rights defender was arrested. Evgeny Vitishko attended the appeal via video-conference call.
The decision to reject the appeal upheld a decision, dated 20 December 2013, to enact a three-year suspended sentence against the human rights defender. The original sentence dated from June 2012 and stemmed from charges of causing criminal damage to property after he allegedly spray painted graffiti on a construction fence. Twice in November 2013, the human rights defender was accused of violating the terms of this sentence.
EWNC is an independent group that published a report on environmental damage caused by preparations for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. For years, the group has led protests and repeatedly spoke out publicly on these issues. It has previously been subjected to threats and harassment due to its work.
Front Line Defenders is gravely concerned that the arrest and detention of Evgeny Vitishko are solely motivated by his work on environmental and human rights in the context of the Sochi Olympics, and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
On 20 December 2013, the Tuapse City Court approved a request by the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Krasnodar region to imprison environmental rights defender, Mr Evgeny Vitishko for an alleged breach of curfew, one of the conditions of his probation, and decided to convert his three years suspended sentence to real jail term to be served in a settlement colony. Written copy of the judgment will be delivered on 23 December 2013, and Evgeny Vitishko has 10 days to appeal it.
Evgeny Vitishko and his colleague, Mr Suren Gazaryan, received a suspended sentence of three years in prison with two years' probation on 20 June 2012 after being found guilty of “causing significant damage to private property” under section 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code.
Evgeny Vitishiko is an environmental rights defender with Environmental Watch on North Caucasus (EWNC), a Russian-based non-profit organisation that works to protect the environment of the Caucasus region since 1997. He is actively involved in monitoring the environmental impact of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games preparations.
Suren Gazaryan appealed his suspended sentence to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which, on 21 October 2013, found that the case of Suren Gazaryan and Evgeny Vitishko should be reconsidered since the first trial was not fair. The case of Suren Gazaryan was sent back to Krasnodar district Court, which at a hearing on 18 December 2013 ignored the Supreme Court's decision and upheld the sentence handed down in June 2012.
On 28 November 2013, Tuapse City Court considered a request by the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Krasnodar region to imprison environmental rights defender, Mr Evgeny Vitishko. Evgeny Vitishko received a suspended sentence of three years in prison with two years' probation in June 2012. The request was based on an alleged breach of curfew, one of the conditions of his probation. The conditions attached to his probation were arbitrarily tightened in December 2012 in a move seen as an attempt to curtail his human rights work. The hearing was eventually adjourned to 19 December 2013.
Evgeny Vitishiko is an environmental rights defender with Environmental Watch on North Caucasus (EWNC), a Russian-based non-profit organisation that works to protect the environment of the Caucasus region since 1997. He is actively involved in monitoring the environmental impact of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games preparations.
Since 2011, EWNC activists have been challenging the unlawful erection of a fence around the summer residence of Krasnodar governor, Mr Alexander Tkachev, which encompasses a large area of protected public coastal forest in Tuapse. EWNC filed complaints with the Krasnodar Forest Department and sent a letter to then President Dmitry Medvedev. While the Forest Department denied that such a fence exists, the Natural Resources Department stated that the fence, the residence and other buildings inside the area were erected without the required environmental impact assessment. At a peaceful protest organised against the fence in August 2011, EWNC activists were arrested and spent up to fifteen days in administrative detention on charges of 'resisting the police'.
On 13 November 2011, Evgeny Vitishko, Mr Suren Gazaryan, and other EWNC members attempted to map the disputed area. In doing so, they allegedly damaged a section of the fence. They also sprayed slogans such as “this is our forest” on the fence. An investigation on grounds of 'grave hooliganism' was launched against them the same day. Evgeny Vitishko and Suren Gazaryan pleaded not guilty to the charges. In particular, Evgeny Vitishko stated that he was merely filming the incident. However, on 20 June 2012 they were found guilty of “causing significant damage to private property” under section 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code. They were sentenced to three years in prison, which were suspended subject to two years' probation with a strict curfew. The judge refused to investigate the legality of the fence.
Since his conviction, Evgeny Vitishko has reported being kept under constant police surveillance. While campaigning for a seat in Krasnodar Parliament, he spent the night of 14-15 October 2012 in a local election commission. Despite the fact that he duly informed the Penitentiary Inspection Office of this in advance, as required by law, in response the conditions of his probation were further tightened in December 2012. He lodged an appeal questioning the arbitrary nature of the additional restrictions.
On 4 November 2013, Evgeny Vitishko was stopped twice by police while driving from Krasnodar and his car was searched. On 21 November 2013, he received a summons to appear before the court on 28 November 2013 to account for an alleged violation of his probation.
During the court hearing on 28 November 2013, Evgeny Vitishko and his lawyer, Mr Alexander Popkov, filed an oral motion to postpone the hearing.
Front Line Defenders believes that the judicial harassment of Evgeny Vitishko is directly related to his human rights work and it was initiated by regional authorities with the goal of preventing his work to defend environmental rights in the run up to the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. Front Line Defenders is further concerned by the contradictory nature of a sentence for allegedly damaging a fence whose existence is denied by the authorities, by the disproportionate prison sentence imposed, and by the arbitrary tightening of his probation conditions.
