By Connie Hong
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – Two members of Pussy Riot, a Russian feminist punk band, had fled the country in order to avoid prosecution for their involvement in an anti-Putin performance held at the alter of Christ the Savior cathedral.  Their decision to leave the country comes after the conviction of three of their band mates for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.  The three women were sentenced to two years of jail time, but their defense lawyers are expected to soon appeal their sentences.

Members of Pussy Riot wearing colorful balaclavas. (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian) Continue Reading

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

PARIS, France – The French government has made it easier for Roma immigrants to obtain work and residence rights.

This change in policy comes after police raids on makeshift Roma campsites located near Lille and Lyon. French Housing Minister, Cecile Duflot, defended the dismantling of the camps and called for: “integration through work, by widening and softening constraints that weigh heavily on Roma populations who wish to work, by eliminating the tax paid by the employers of the Roma and widening, in a very big way, the professions they can have access to.”

There are an estimated 20,000 Roma living in France.

One of the main changes in policy is waiving the tax that French employers are required to pay the immigration office when hiring a Romanian or Bulgarian worker, the tax can run as high as $2,200. The government-approved list of jobs that are open to Roma people will be expanded from the current 150 jobs.

“The Roma people are EU citizens like anyone else and would like to work like anyone else,” Malik Salemkour, a human rights activist who met with Socialist Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, told reporters.

Ayrault told reporters that the measures taken towards the Roma and the new measures were a “question of humanity and respect.”

Citizens of Romania and Bulgaria, which include the Roma, are subject to employment limitations until the end of 2013 in the European Union. This policy was supposedly imposed due to the fear of an excessive influx of immigrants looking for work. Roma are required work permits to stay legally beyond three months in a host country. This leads to many Roma living in makeshift camps near the edge of large cities illegally.

Earlier this month, police evicted around 300 people from illegal campsites. They also sent 240 Roma back to Romania and offered a stipend for those who voluntarily returned.

The Council of Europe, a governmental organization for human rights, has urged France to seek a solution for Roma immigrants. The European Commission, in charge of monitoring EU treaties, began monitoring the situation in France after the campsite raids.

For more information, please see:

BBC News — French Government Eases Job Access For Roma – 23 August 2012

Chicago Tribune — France Says to Relax Restrictions on Roma Jobseekers – 22 August 2012

Daily Reporter — After Camp Closures, France Loosening Job Restrictions on Roma From Eastern Europe – 22 August 2012

 

By Connie Hong
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – On Friday, the Moscow City Court affirmed for the second time, its decision to ban gay pride parades for the next century. The ruling came after Nikolay Alexeyev, Russia’s best-known gay rights advocate, challenged the city council’s ban on gay pride parades after the city rejected his application for a parade license. According to the city court’s decision, any public gathering that could be classified as a gay pride march or celebration is prohibited from March 2012 until May 2112. In support of its position, the city government argued that gay pride parades might instigate public disorder, and that most Muscovites do not support such marches.

Russia’s best-known gay rights advocate, Nikolay Alexeyev. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News) Continue Reading

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – Former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko started her appeals hearing on Thursday against her convictions on abuse of power charges.

Tymoshenko’s five lawyers argued that she should be released because no crime had been committed. A representative of the state energy company, Naftogaz, and the prosecutor call for the appeal to be rejected. The final ruling is expected to be give on Tuesday after the opinion of the second prosecutor is heard.

“There is no proof of Tymoshenko’s guilt,” her lawyer Sergiy Vlasenko told journalists after the hearing.

Olexander Plakhotniuk, another of Tymoshenko’s lawyers, told the court: “”I consider that the sentence of the court (last October) is unlawful. The court incorrectly applied criminal law and this is the basis for overturning the sentence.”

Tymoshenko has been imprisoned since August 2011. In October of that year, she was sentenced to seven years on accusations she abused her power as prime minister by signing a gas contract with Russia, that Ukraine had decided was against its interests at the time.

If the court does not release Tymoshenko, she is able to bring her case in front of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), to be able to do this she must have exhausted all the legal options in Ukraine. Tymoshenko already has an appeal in process to the ECHR regarding another arrest that is scheduled for August 28.

The European Union sees the Tymoshenko case as a political trial and has caused a rift between Ukraine and the West. The EU sees Tymoshenko as a victim of selective justice by President Viktor Yanukovych, her political rival . Tymoshenko was the leader of the 2004 Orange Revolution which derailed President Yanukovych’s first bid for the presidency. In February 2010, the two had a run-off for the presidency.

Tymoshenko is currently being treated for a back condition in a state hospital and was unable to attend the first day of trial.

Parliamentary supporters of Tymoshenko attempted to nail a reproduction of a Renaissance painting depicting a corrupt judge being flayed alive. Judge Stanlislav Myshchenko warned supports that further disturbances would result in being expelled.

For further information, please see:

CNBC — Tymoshenko Appeals Against Conviction in Ukraine Court – 16 August 2012

France 24 — Ukraine Starts Hearing Tymoshenko Appeal — 16 August 2012

Gulf Times — Tymoshenko Appeals Against Conviction – 16 August 2012

By Connie Hong
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia — Three members of a Russian feminist punk band, Pussy Riot, currently face up to three years of jail time for performing an anti-Putin piece on the altar of Moscow’s Christ the Savior cathedral. The three women, Maria Alyokhina, Ekaterina Samutsevich, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, have all been charged with “hooliganism” and incitement of religious hatred. Despite the arrest of their band mates, the remaining members refused to back down on their protesting activities.

Tolokonnikova, Alyokhina, and Samutsevich during their trial. (Photo Courtesy of The Guardian) Continue Reading