The harsh sentence evoked outrage, and more than three hundred people stood outside the court chanting “Freedom for Dashkevich!”

The German Ambassador expressed consternation at the trial behind closed doors of Zmiter Dashkevich: "Why have they not learned from the lessons of Stalinism and the terror trials, which we had in Germany?”

Those attending the meeting in Moscow on 30 October held banners reading We won’t let Russia be returned to 1937!”, “Comrade Chekists, you’re getting up to your old ways”, as well as pictures of present political prisoners

The leader of the Belarusian organization “Youth Front” Zmiter Dashkevich was arrested in September for “activities on behalf of an unregistered organization”

Rustam Muminov was deported from Russia on 24 October after the European Court of Human Rights had called for the deportation procedure to be halted

In the light of the mounting political repression in Russia, the author believes that this 30 October 2006 should be considered not only a Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Political Repression in the past, but a Day of Protest against new repression – present and future.

In 1974 30 October was designated the Day of the Political Prisoner in the USSR. This was a decision taken by prisoners of the Soviet political camps themselves. … People deprived of their freedom because of their convictions began a struggle for your freedom and ours, for human dignity. – A call from Russian human rights groups to oppose the curbing of freedom in Russia

This book is the diary of Madina Elmurzaeva which she kept during military action in Grozny. It proved no easy matter for human rights activists to get it published.

Regardless of what we think of the charges themselves, forgetting that Zelenyak denies authorship does both him and the cause of justice a disservice

Aleksandr Abramovich received 15 days for unfurling a banner reading “Freedom for Kazulin and other Belarusian political prisoners!”

This came after the European Court of Human Rights passed a ruling calling for the deportation procedure to be halted. On Thursday a cassation appeal was scheduled against the ruling of a Moscow court to deport Muminov

The Chief Editor of the Internet publication “Kursiv” Vladimir Rakhmankov has been fined 20 thousand roubles for the publication on his site of his article “Putin as Russia’s phallic symbol”. The website has also effectively been closed down

The court ruling to extradite him came despite a previous call for his extradition having been turned down, as well as the likelihood of his facing torture if returned

The Leninsky District Court in Minsk has found human rights activist Yekaterina Sadovskaya guilty of offending the honour and dignity of Aleksandr Lukashenko

The Russian actor Stanislav Sadalsky as a mark of solidarity with the Georgian people has asked for Georgian citizenship

The Georgian nationals detained in Moscow are asking that their deportation to Georgia be speeded up. Around 60 people, among them a child, have been held in custody for more than ten days

As feared from the outset, the new law, which has left most foreign NGOs unregistered, seems designed to prevent such organizations from having representative offices in Russia

“European Union leaders must demand that Russia restores a degree of pluralism and free expression into the media.”

Yet another jury trial in St Petersburg has ended in acquittals or verdicts quashing charges involving ethnic emnity

A number of human rights activists were detained in Nazran (Ingushetia), including members of the Red Cross and the human rights centre “Memorial”.