A few weeks before regional elections in Russia, the prominent election observer Melkonyants was arrested. A court ordered the co-chair of the human rights organization Golos to be held in custody until at least 17 October.
A Russian court has ordered a two-month pre-trial detention against a leading member of the independent election observation organization Golos. According to a statement by Moscow’s Basmanny court, the co-chair of the movement for the protection of voters’ rights, Grigory Melkonyants, must be held in custody until at least October 17.
Melkonjanz had been arrested the day before on charges of working with an “undesirable organization”. According to his lawyer, the detention is linked to Golos’ work for the European Network of Election Observation Organizations (ENEMO), which the Russian authorities had declared an “undesirable” organization. Golos himself has been on the “Foreign Agents” list since 2021.
The activist’s defense attorney Mikhail Biryukov denied the allegations against his client. Melkonjanz or Golos did not work with any “undesirable organization”.
Attorney announces appeal
According to the video recordings from the courtroom, Melkonyants received the decision with a straight face before being handcuffed. His lawyer announced an appeal to journalists.
The court’s decision came just weeks before Russia’s regional elections in September and less than a year before next spring’s presidential election.
On Thursday, the police also examined the homes of several Golos members in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Chelyabinsk, according to the Russian civil rights organization OWD-Info, which specializes in documenting arrests. In the past, the Golos observers have repeatedly disclosed massive violations of voting rights and manipulations.
government critic heavily under pressure
Since the start of Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine, repression of government critics has increased. The few remaining opposition figures in Russia are driven into exile or imprisoned.
Political scientist Abbas Galliamov said the election observers would be “destroyed” because the Kremlin wanted to prevent the violations from being documented in this way. This is already in preparation for the presidential elections in March 2024. “In reality, there can be no talk of 90 percent approval for (Kremlin chief Vladimir) Putin. His real values are now 30, at most 40 percent,” he said. “In that sense, Golos is simply a knife to the throat for the Kremlin.”