UPDATE 08/08/18: On August 8 Oyub Titiev went to trial. If found guilty, Oyub faces up to 10 years in jail. Watch Amnesty’s Senior Director for Research Anna Neistat report from outside his trial. Please keep taking action at this critical time.

To be a human rights defender in Russia remains a very dangerous profession. Brave people are routinely prosecuted under fabricated criminal charges, vilified by the media and officials, attacked, and even murdered.

Oyub Titiev, a prominent human rights defender In the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, is facing 10 years in prison based on fabricated charges of possessing illegal drugs.

Igor Nagavkin, a prominent human rights defender from the Volgograd Region in the south-west of Russia, is awaiting trial on fabricated charges of theft.

Andrey Rudomakha, an environmental activist, was brutally beaten up after inspecting an illegal construction site believed to be linked to high-level officials. Despite clear and available evidence, the investigation has stalled.

Now is the time, while all eyes are on Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, to shine a light on this injustice.

By joining together with others, you can make a difference. Join our global call on President Putin to drop the bogus charges against Oyub, Igor and to ensure justice for Andrey.

Thank you!

UPDATE 28/09/18: We have closed this action to send the signatures to President Putin along with those collected by other Amnesty offices during the World Cup. Thank you to those who took action!

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  Our Petition

President of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

Dear President Putin,

I am deeply concerned by the ongoing persecution of human rights defenders (HRDs) in Russia.

Contrary to Russia’s international commitments to support and protect HRDs and promote human rights, criminal cases against HRDs are fabricated and attacks on HRDs are not investigated effectively.

In Chechnya, Oyub Titiev, a prominent human rights defender and head of the Grozny office of Memorial human rights organization is facing 10 years in prison based on fabricated charges of drugs possession. This is part of a larger, systemic operation against Memorial that is pushing it out of the Republic.

Igor Nagavkin, a prominent human rights defender from the Volgograd Region, is awaiting trial on fabricated charges of theft.

Investigation into a brutal attack against a prominent environmental activist Andrey Rudomakha is effectively stalled in Krasnodar, despite numerous pieces of hard evidence, like CCTV footage, and fingerprints of the assailants. On top of this, Andrey Rudomakha and his colleagues from NGO Environmental Watch for the North Caucasus (EWNC) are receiving further threats.

I call on you to ensure that charges against Oyub Titiev and Igor Nagavkin are dropped and both are released immediately and unconditionally. I further call on you that the brutal attack against Andrey Rudomakha is effectively and impartially investigated and all those responsible are brought to justice. I urge you to ensure that Memorial, Environmental Watch for the North Caucasus (EWNC) and other human rights organizations are able to work without fear of persecution and intimidation.

Finally, I urge you to ensure, that in the year when the international community will be marking the twenty year anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, Russia demonstrates true commitment to fulfilling its international human rights obligations and provides full support and protection to HRDs.

Yours sincerely,

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