Five Defendants in Russian Journalist’s Murder are Granted Jury Trial

by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – A preliminary hearing was held in the trial of five men accused in the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya on Monday.

To date, only one individual has been convicted in what is believed to have been a conspiracy in the murder of Politkovskaya (above). (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

The defendants were granted the right to a jury trial, as Russian law guarantees murder defendants the right to be tried by a jury, though most cases in Russia are decided by judges.

Anna Stavitskaya, the lawyer for Politkovskaya’s family, was pleased with the judge’s granting of a jury trial, stating, “From our point of view, a jury trial is the best option since it fully respects the adversarial principle between the sides.”

Politkovskaya, who was one of Russia’s most prominent investigative journalists, was shot to death in her apartment building on October 7, 2006. She had frequently criticized the Kremlin, and also accused the Russian military and pro-Moscow Chechen authorities of human rights abuses. At the time of her death, Politkovskaya worked for the newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

The case has caused an international stir and outraged human rights groups in Russia, and it has become a symbol of attempts to suffocate opposition of Vladimir Putin.

Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadrov, have stated that the murder was an outrageous act of violence that struck at the freedom of speech and required a thorough investigation.

“In my opinion murdering such a person certainly does much greater damage from the authorities’ point of view, authorities that she strongly criticized, than her publications ever did,” President Putin stated.

The five accused, Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, his three nephews Rustam, Ibragim and Dzhabrail Makhmudov, and a former Moscow police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, all participated in Monday’s hearing.

Ibragim and Dzhabrail Makhmudov and Khadzhikurbanov had already been acquitted of the murder in 2009, but that verdict was overturned by Russia’s supreme court.

Gaitukayev is believed to have organized the murder of Politkovskaya, while Rustam Makhmudov is believed to have been the actual gunman in the murder. The other two Makhmudov brothers are believed to have been accomplices to the murder.

Another former police officer, Dmitry Pavlyuchhenkov, was sentenced to eleven years in prison last year for supplying the murder weapon after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit the murder. Pavlyuchhenkov had implicated the current five defendants.

Currently, three of the defendants, Gaitukayev, Khadzhikurbanov, and Rustam Makhmudov, are being detained by Russian authorities, while Ibragim and Dzhabrail Makhmudov are restricted from traveling outside Russia.

The jurors are to be selected later this month on June 20th, with the first public hearing to be held shortly afterwards.

For more information, please see:

The St. Petersburg Times – Murder Suspects Demand Jury Trial – 5 June 2013

BBC News – Politkovskaya Murder: Defendants to have Jury Trial – 4 June 2013

Al Jazeera – Russia Murder Suspects Back on Trial – 3 June 2013

The Independent – Anna Politkovskaya Murder Trial is Rerun Six Years After Fatal Shooting of Anti-Corruption Journalist – 3 June 2013

Impunity Watch – Former Russian Policeman Sentenced for the Murder of Journalist – 24 December 2012

Nine North Koreans Returned to Pyongyang After Fleeing to Laos

By Brian Lanciault

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

PYONGYANG, North Korea– Nine North Korean youths, ages 14 to 23, were returned to Pyongyang earlier this week after being arrested in Laos and deported through Beijing, China.  Both the Chinese and Lao governments have come under criticism from the UNHCR, the United Nations organ responsible for refugee matters.

Protesters rally outside the Lao embassy in Seoul demanding the Lao government ensure the safety of the nine individuals returned to North Korea. (Photo Courtesy of AP)

The nine individuals fled North Korea in early May and entered Laos through China on May 9.  On May 16, Lao authorities captured the group and arranged their deportation to Beijing.  On Tuesday May 28 the group was flown back to Pyongyang under the supervision of several North Korean officials.

U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville stated that the group will likely face severe punishment upon their return.  North Korean law imposes a mandatory sentence of five years hard labor for defectors and the possibility of life imprisonment.  According to Human Rights Watch, North Korea has a history of mistreating persons that have left the country without authorization.  Such mistreatment has reportedly included forced labor, indeterminate detention, torture, malnourishment, and unsanitary living conditions.  Particularly harsh punishments are utilized against those suspected of attempting to contact or enter South Korea.

The U.N. admonished the DPRK Friday for failing to observe its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights article 7, which states that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

The potential for severe punishment and/or mistreatment at the hands of the DPRK also places the nine individuals within the protective sphere of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, and the 1984 Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment.  The 1951 Convention defines “refugee” as a person who “owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country…”  The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Handbook establishes that persecution that arises as a result of, or after, fleeing one’s country is also within the scope of the Convention’s protection.

The UNHCR has stated that both China and Laos’ actions are violations of  the aforementioned conventions, and also the customary international law principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return (refouler) or extradition of any person to a State where there are substantial grounds to believe that she would be in danger of being subjected to torture.

The exact condition and status of these nine individuals is unknown at this time, and North Korea has thus far failed to answer U.N. requests to investigate and/or receive independent reports on the status of the group.  The UNHCR continues to investigate and has expressed concern that in both China and Laos the group was denied an opportunity to lodge claims for asylum.

For further information, please see:

Human Rights Watch — North Korea: Denial of Rights Forces Back Refugees — 30 May 2013

BBC — UN ‘dismayed’ Over North Korea Refugees — 31 May 2013

Reuters — U.N. Fears Nine North Korean Defectors Sent Home by China — 31 May 2013

Bangkok Post — UN Protests Return of North Koreans — 1 June 2013

 

European Parliamentarians Plan to Veto EU-Russia Agreement on Visa-Free Travel for Russian Officials Unless EU Implements Magnitsky Sanctions

PRESS RELEASE

 

4 June 2013 – As the EU-Russia Summit gets under way in Yekaterinburg today, 48 members of the European Parliament said they will veto the agreement for the visa-free travel for Russian officials currently under negotiation between the EU and Russia unless the EU implements Magnitsky sanctions. European parliamentarians have stated their position in a written communication to the foreign affairs ministers of all 27 EU member states.The European Parliament’s consent is required for any such EU-Russia visa agreement to come into force.

“Under current circumstances we will be unable to support any visa facilitation agreements with Russia and will advocate the Parliament to refuse its consent, unless the Council adopts an EU ‘Magnitsky law’ as proposed in the Parliament’s recommendation of October 2012,” said European parliamentarians in their letter.

The letter (http://www.donskis.lt/p/en/1/1_/1495) was signed by a number of influential members of the European Parliament, including Elmar Brok MEP, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Edward McMillan-Scott MEP, Member of the Bureau of the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt MEP, former Prime Minister of Belgium, Vytautas Landsbergis MEP, Former President of Lithuania, Kristiina Ojuland MEP, former Foreign Minister of Estonia, Mario David MEP, former Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, and Barbara Lochbihler MEP, Chair of the European Parliament’s Human Rights Subcommittee, among others.

The letter comes amidst the lack of reaction from the EU Council to the European Parliament’s call for sanctions on Russian officials in the Magnitsky case and other human rights violations. In the resolution adopted last October 2012 (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P7-TA-2012-0369&language=EN&ring=A7-2012-0285 ), the European Parliament recommended to the EU Council to impose visa bans and asset freezes on those Russian officials who were responsible for Sergei Magnitsky’s false arrest, torture and death, as well as other gross human rights abusers from Russia. In the eight months since that resolution was passed, the EU Council has taken no action.

In the meantime, the European Council has begun active negotiations with Russia to allow visa-free travel for Russian government officials within the EU under demands from Russia. Given that under this agreement, the same persons who were responsible for Sergei Magnitsky’s death, as well as other gross human rights abuses would be provided visa-free travel in the EU, the European parliamentarians felt compelled to use their veto power over the proposed EU-Russia agreement to prevent Russian human rights abusers from slipping into Europe through this visa waiver program.

This development follows reports last week from an EU source(http://euobserver.com/foreign/120333) indicating that the EU leadership will bow to Russian pressure and back down from calling for justice in the Magnitsky case. The EU source stated that the torture and killing of the young whistle-blowing Russian lawyer is a matter of Russia’s “internal legal system.”  The position espoused by an EU official comes in contradiction to the OSCE/Helsinki human rights protocols signed in the 1980s by both Russia and EU member states, which specifically assert that human rights is a matter for the legitimate international concern, and is not to be viewed as an internal matter of each state.

For further information, please see:

Law and Order in Russia

Thousands Gather to Protest Against the Jailing of Journalists and Activists

By Danielle Gwozdz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Around 10,000 Ethiopians gathered in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, on Sunday to protest for the release of jailed journalists and activists.

Hailemariam Desalegn became Ethiopian prime minister after the death of Meles Zenawi last year (photo courtesy of Xinhua/Landov/Barcroft Media)

Some protestors carried banners reading “Justice! Justice! Justice!” or pictures of imprisoned opposition figures. Others chanted: “we call for respect of the constitution.”

Yilekal Getachew, the chairman of the opposition party Semayawi (blue) that organized this protest, stated “We have repeatedly asked the government to release political leaders, journalists and those who asked the government not to intervene in religious affairs.” Further, he said, “If these questions are not resolved and no progress is made in the next three months, we will organize more protests. It is the beginning of our struggle.”

The demonstrators also seek action against unemployment, inflation, and corruption.

The government is able to jail journalists and activists because of the 2009 anti-terrorism law. This law states that anyone caught publishing information that could induce readers into acts of terrorism would be liable to be jailed for terms from 10 to 20 years.

Last year an Ethiopian court sentenced 20 journalists, opposition figures, and others, to jail for conspiring with rebels to destroy the government. In addition, last year 49 Ethiopian journalists were in exile and 72 newspapers had been closed.

However, Communications Minister Bereket denied  the protestors’ allegations. He stated that, “There are no political prisoners. There are only people who have been charged with criminal offenses.”

Further, Bereket said, “We don’t have any qualms about the protesters exercising their rights, but when you see the character of the demands, calls to give up the trials and release persons who are behind bars, convicted of criminal offenses, it is both unethical and unacceptable. Also, the government cannot interfere and release people suspected of criminal offenses. We will have to wait until the courts give verdicts.”

Although Ethiopia’s economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, it is often criticized for preventing opposition and the media.

 

For further information, please see:

BBC News — Ethiopian Protestors Take to Streets — 2 June 2013

The Guardian — Ethiopian Human Rights Protestors Take to Streets in Addis Ababa — 2 June 2013

The Huffington Post — Ethiopia: Thousands Protest Political Repression — 2 June 2013

Reuters — Thousands March for Rights in Rare Ethiopia Protest — 2 June 2013