ENG / RU

Yan Sidorov and Vladislav Mordasov are two young men from Rostov-on-Don, Russia. In 2017, they were unlawfully detained at a protest held to raise awareness of the problem of local fire victims. They were later charged with attempt to organize mass riots under Article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. 

The demonstration in which Jan and Vladislav took part was peaceful. Participants were unarmed and did not break windows, loot shops, flip cars, or set tires on fire. Law enforcement officials failed to provide any facts proving the contrary (for more details: bit.ly/ovdinfosm).

The two men were deprived of their liberty on November 5, 2017, and were tortured and humiliated by employees of the Rostov Center for Combating Extremism (for more details: bit.ly/estapo). Both spent almost 2 years in a pre-trial detention facility. On October 4, 2019, the regional court sentenced Vladislav to 6 years and 7 months, and Yan to 6 years and 6 months in a maximum-security prison.

We have no reason to doubt that this case was fabricated entirely by the Investigative Committee of the Rostov region alongside Center for Combating Extremism. It suffices to study the evidence which the prosecutors used to justify their version of how the riots were organized (see description of the case here: bit.ly/memorialsm).

Amnesty International and Memorial Human Rights Centre recognized the two men as prisoners of conscience, which only confirms that they are suffering persecution of a political nature and that their sentence is illegal.

We demand the immediate release of Sidorov and Mordasov, nullification of court decisions in their case, as well as in the case of Vyacheslav Shashmin, and the prosecution of the employees of Investigative Committee of the Rostov region and Center for Combating Extremism — for violating human rights, fabricating charges, and torturing.