Meeting at Solovki Boulder in Moscow demanded release of political prisoners

On October 30, about two hundred Moscow residents who rallied near the Solovki Boulder in Moscow demanded that the Kremlin immediate release political prisoners and paid tribute to the memory of the victims of the repressions during the totalitarian Soviet regime. Human rights activists and leaders of the democratic opposition read out the names of dozens of persons kept in prisons, colonies and even mental hospitals of Russia whom they consider to be political prisoners.

The meeting held last night as 6-7 p.m. in the Lubyanka Square was dated to the Day of Political Prisoner that was proclaimed on October 30 by Soviet political prisoners back in 1974 and now is the state Memory Day of Victims of Political Repressions.

"Our state uses political repressions and has political prisoners - Khodorkovskiy, Trepashkin, and the youngsters from the National-Bolshevik Party who stood for the freedom of Russians and against the war in Chechnya," said Anna Karetnikova, coordinator of the Anti-War Club, member of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" and editor-in-chief of the web portal "VoineNet" (No to War), when speaking from the truck platform.

According to Ms Karetnikova, there is also another category of citizens who have found themselves in torture chambers. They never criticized the authorities but just happened to be the people of a "suspicious" nationality, confession or profession. "If you are a Chechen, they may suddenly fetch three grenades out of the back pocket of your jeans or mouldable explosive (plastite) out of your handbag, like it was with student Zara Murtazalieva," the member of the HRC "Memorial" gave an example of a falsified criminal case.