(PEN/IFEX) – The following is a 23 March 2007 statement by Norwegian PEN and two other organisations: Oslo, 23 March 2007 – The Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Human Rights House Foundation, and Norwegian PEN are very concerned about the situation in Nizhny Novgorod prior to the planned “March of Dissent” on Saturday 24 March 2007. The […]
(PEN/IFEX) – The following is a 23 March 2007 statement by Norwegian PEN and two other organisations:
Oslo, 23 March 2007 – The Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Human Rights House Foundation, and Norwegian PEN are very concerned about the situation in Nizhny Novgorod prior to the planned “March of Dissent” on Saturday 24 March 2007. The planned march to City Hall has not been permitted by the authorities. The organizers, a group consisting of oppositional parties and NGOs, appealed to the courts, but on 22 March the court upheld the ban.
According to the International Helsinki Federation, a special section of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Ministry of Interior’s Department for Combating Organised Crime (UBOP) seized 60,000 copies of the second issue of a special edition of a newspaper registered by the United Civic Front. The agency focused on the coverage of the March of Dissent, under the pretext of checking the contents of the paper for signs of extremism. The confiscated issue included articles about the situation in Nizhny Novgorod with regard to the on-going destruction of the historical center of the city, including the construction of a high-way, the unpopular housing and utilities reform and the failure to secure election guarantees. In conclusion, the newspaper appealed to “the free people” to join the March of Dissent at the central square of Nizhny Novgorod.
The director of the printing house who printed the newspaper, a journalist and a member of the United Civic Front steering committee were taken to the prosecutor’s office where they were questioned. The local editor and a journalist from the newspaper “Kommersant” were also asked by the prosecutor’s office to provide “explanations” regarding an article about the planned March of Dissent.
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Send similar appeals to:
Nizhny Novgorod Prosecutor’s Office
Fax: +7 831 2 61 8503
Nizhegorodskiy District Police Office
Fax: +7 831 2 34 0202
Vasily Shantsev
Regional Governor
Fax: +7 831 2 39 0819
Mayor Bulavinov Vadim
Fax: +7 831 2 39 0819
Alexander Konovalov
Special Representative to the President
Fax: +7 831 2 31 4714
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