A civil activist Yevgeny Pirogov appealed against the dismissal of the release on parole from the penitentiary, as reported by his counsel Sergey Poduzov on April 18.
The appeal from the judgement of the Soviet district court dated March 20 was sent to the republican Supreme Court.
"Despite the fact that Yevgeny Pirogov's appeal is registered at the UN Committee on Human Rights, we are making efforts to make him free as soon as possible. Sooner or later, a legal treatment to the court judgement against Yevgeny will be given," Poduzov said. "From the very beginning, we consider his deprivation of liberty illegal. We support his request for the release on parole in order to minimize the harm inflicted on a person with an unlawful state decision. The paperwork process took us about three months. When Pirogov was preparing the documents, the penitentiary administration imposed two penalties on him. What is it? Biased attitude? The vicious systemic practice? Otherwise, how to explain the characteristics of the institution which says: "... the convict is characterized positively, his parole is unviable ..."? We hope that the Supreme Court of Mari El will provide objective answers to these questions".
Yevgeny Pirogov was sentenced to two years imprisonment in May 2016 under the Article 282, also known as an "extremist", article for posting on the social network pictures and texts that, according to investigators, caused hostility and hatred on ethnic, religious and racial grounds. He is serving his sentence in Correctional Camp No. 5 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, the Republic of Mari El. In February, Pirogov was put in the prison disciplinary cell for 15 days. According to the penitentiary administration, the activist violated discipline and the daily routine.
