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29-30 сентября 2012 года в Москве состоится региональная конференция «Свобода слова и ассоциаций: От теории к практике» для адвокатов, правозащитников и экспертов из Азербайджана, Беларуси, Молдовы, Украины, России.

Various NGOs, including members of the Human Rights House Network, have together reacted against the verdict against the members of the Pussy Riot. We call for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich of the music band Pussy Riot to be released.

Three members of a feminist punk band Pussy Riot were sentenced this week to two years in prison for performing a song against President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral in February.

Russia’s Parliament has recently passed a number of new bills aiming to restrict freedom of action of civil society and to silence critical voices. Last week the Russian State Duma adopted a new law which limits freedom of information on the Internet.

A new Russian law would brand all foreign-funded organisations as foreign agents.

“The Eurovision Song Contest ended in Baku but in Azerbaijan repression continues,” Human Rights House Foundation said at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

On 15 June two Kazakh activists were arrested in Almaty. They are charged with incitement of social discord leading to the riots in Zhanaozen in December 2011. On 13 June five Russian journalists were detained in Moscow due to new regulations on demonstrations. They took part in a protest in support of a threatened colleague.

This week both houses of the Russian parliament passed and Russia’s president signed a legislative amendment that dramatically increases fines for people found guilty of participating in unsanctioned rallies. This amendment seriously threatens the right to freedom of assembly in Russia.

Russian radio journalist Sergei Aslanian was brutally attacked in Moscow near his apartment last week. The attack could be linked to the controversial statements he made about Prophet Muhammad.