{"id":59070,"date":"2026-05-14T16:09:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T13:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/?post_type=news&p=59070"},"modified":"2026-05-15T10:33:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T07:33:21","slug":"two-defendants-in-the-ural-human-rights-defenders-case-have-had-their-restrictive-measures-eased","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/two-defendants-in-the-ural-human-rights-defenders-case-have-had-their-restrictive-measures-eased\/","title":{"rendered":"Two defendants in the \u2018Ural Human Rights Defenders\u2019 case have had their restrictive measures eased"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Legal expert Larisa Zakharova has been released from a pre-trial detention facility in Yekaterinburg under a ban on certain activities, Mediazona reports<\/a>. The prosecution itself petitioned the court for her release, stating that the grounds for continued detention no longer applied. Larisa Zakharova has been prohibited from using the internet, making phone calls without the investigator\u2019s prior approval \u2014 except to summon emergency medical services \u2014 visiting Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) facilities, or attending \u2018events connected with the activities of non-profit organisations\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to this, another defendant in the case \u2014 defence lawyer Roman Kachanov \u2014 was released from house arrest under similar restrictions, a development also uncovered<\/a> by Mediazona. Roman Kachanov had previously been transferred from pre-trial detention to house arrest on 12 February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roman Kachanov and Larisa Zakharova are accused of organising the activities of an \u2018undesirable organisation\u2019 under Part 3 of Article 284.1 of the Russian Criminal Code. The charges are believed to stem from alleged cooperation with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the US-based National Endowment for Democracy (NED).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third defendant in the case, Aleksei Sokolov, is charged with high treason under Article 275 of the Criminal Code. Before his arrest in December 2025, he told<\/a> journalists: \u2018The case concerns the fact that I spoke, including to foreign organisations, about human rights violations.\u2019<\/em> He has also maintained that his colleagues were effectively taken hostage in an attempt to force him to cease his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aleksei Sokolov was held<\/a> in a punishment cell for more than two months. He said<\/a> the humidity was so severe and the temperature so low that icicles formed inside the cell. One period of solitary confinement was reportedly justified on the grounds that he had spoken with an orderly about how to chip ice from a window that would not close properly. In March, the human rights defender was transferred to a shared cell, but the exposure to cold allegedly continued there as well. \u2018The existing window frame is glazed with fragments of glass, and the gaps are sealed with adhesive tape,\u2019<\/em> he wrote from custody. On 20 March, he was transferred to hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larisa Zakharova and Aleksei Sokolov both served on the Sverdlovsk Region Public Monitoring Commission (ONK). They repeatedly brought legal actions against the Federal Penitentiary Service and were known<\/a> for openly confronting prison authorities in defence of prisoners\u2019 rights. Alongside his prison rights work, Roman Kachanov also represented participants in opposition protests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-59070","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","regions-sverdlovsk-oblast","news-type-nashi-novosti-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTwo defendants in the \u2018Ural Human Rights Defenders\u2019 case have had their restrictive measures eased - Political prisoners support. 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