A court in #Russia has convicted prominent human rights defender Semyon Simonov on criminal charges related to the abusive “foreign agents” law.
This caps nearly 8 years of harassment & intimidation against him in retaliation for his human rights work.
hrw.org/news/2021/07/1…
This caps nearly 8 years of harassment & intimidation against him in retaliation for his human rights work.
hrw.org/news/2021/07/1…
“The criminal case against Semyon Simonov has been a sham from start to finish.” - @Damelya_HRW
One area of Simonov’s work was documenting the exploitation of and abuses experienced by migrant workers involved in construction for Russia’s Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics & the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
He was also involved in human rights education and monitored police conduct.
He was also involved in human rights education and monitored police conduct.
The 2012 “foreign agents” law requires any Russian group accepting any amount of foreign funding and carrying out activities deemed to be “political” to register as a foreign agent, a term that in Russia is akin to “spy” or “traitor.”
The criminal case against Simonov was condemned by, among others, the Council of Europe human rights commissioner and the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders.
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