As you know, the first meeting of the Coordinating Council will take place on Saturday. However, the situation involving the abduction, torture, and threats to the life of Leonid Razvozzhayev requires an immediate response.
There are no operating rules in place, so the Coordinating Council cannot adopt a statement in full compliance with its procedures. Nevertheless, last night some members of the Council simply created a Facebook group to discuss the statement and adopt an action plan in response to the situation. Signatures are being collected for the statement. More than half of the Council members have already signed. We consider this a statement of the Coordinating Council, adopted outside formal procedure due to the temporary absence of any such procedure. Against Repression and Torture. Statement by members of the Opposition Coordinating Council. Large-scale persecution of dissenters continues in Russia. The authorities have responded to citizens’ mass protest actions with police provocations and direct coercive pressure against their opponents. On May 6, police violently dispersed a demonstration on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow. Hundreds of protesters were beaten and detained. Over the following months, 13 participants in the protest were jailed on fabricated charges of mass rioting. On October 5, a new phase of persecution began. A video of unknown origin broadcast on NTV (a Russian television channel), containing unproven accusations against left-wing activists, led to new arrests. On October 19, in the course of a special operation on Ukrainian territory, carried out in complete disregard for the rule of law, opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev was abducted and then illegally taken to Moscow. In Moscow, after a closed court hearing held without notifying his lawyers or family members, he was remanded in custody. According to human rights advocates from the Public Oversight Commission, who secured a meeting with Razvozzhayev, it became known that security service officers used torture, psychological pressure, and threats to extract testimony from him against his comrades. We also know that V. Markin, a representative of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, publicly lied when he said that Razvozzhayev had turned himself in and voluntarily confessed his own guilt and that of his associates. In this connection, the Coordinating Council of the Russian opposition: states that the Russian authorities have resorted to methods of direct coercive pressure against their opponents, in gross violation of Russian and international law; demands that the country’s leadership, and Vladimir Putin personally, put an end to the practice of pressuring opposition supporters, demands that security be ensured for Leonid Razvozzhayev’s family, will seek the freezing of foreign assets belonging to all persons (both those who ordered and those who carried out these acts) involved in organizing abductions, torture, and the unlawful criminal prosecution of opposition activists; reminds Russia’s political leaders, law enforcement officers, and members of the judicial system of the inevitability of punishment for the crimes against Russian citizens in which they are implicated.* Immediate Action Plan (appendix to the statement by members of the Coordinating Council) *In light of what is happening, the Coordinating Council will undertake the following measures: compiling a list of persons involved in organizing the unlawful criminal prosecution in the “May 6 case” (those responsible: Council members Navalny, Sobol. To be involved: RosUznik, Agora, lawyers for the accused) organizing appeals to the relevant bodies of the European Union and the United States, and holding talks with EU officials. Launching a campaign demanding entry bans to the EU and the U.S. and the freezing of assets in the EU and the U.S. of all those involved in the unlawful criminal prosecution, torture, and abduction of people in the “May 6 case.” (Those responsible: Kasparov, Nemtsov, Kara-Murza) organizing appeals to the relevant UN bodies regarding the torture of Razvozzhayev and holding the corresponding talks (those responsible: Kasparov, Nemtsov, Kara-Murza) strengthening coordination among the lawyers for those accused in the “May 6 case.” (those responsible: Davidis, Karetnikova, Navalny. To be involved: RosUznik, Agora, ONK [Public Oversight Commission]) bringing in additional lawyers for Leonid Razvozzhayev’s defense (those responsible: Nemtsov, Navalny. To be involved: Agora) engaging lawyers to prepare complaints and statements regarding the abduction and torture of Razvozzhayev (those responsible: Navalny, Sobol) raising funds for the defense of those accused in the “May 6 case.” (Those responsible: Romanova, Ashurkov, Vinokurov. To be involved: RosUznik) Additionally: all Council members will make donations for these purposes. working with the families of those arrested. (Those responsible: Romanova) organizing a mass public information campaign to inform citizens about the “May 6 case” (those responsible: Sobchak, Bykov, Alburov, Naganov) holding a mass protest in support of political prisoners on Saturday, October 27 (Those responsible: Parkhomenko, Kashin, Dzyadko — determining the format of the action; all Council members — participation in the action) *Ashurkov, Parkhomenko, Alburov, Nemtsov, Piontkovsky, Kasparov, Kashin, Sobol, Navalny, Naganov, Chirikova, Dzyadko, Krylov, Gaskarov, Lazareva, Sobchak, Tor, Romanova, Shats, Polchaev, Illarionov, Davidis, Vinokurov, Pivovarov, Mirzoyev, Konstantinov, Bykov, Yashin, Nikolaev, Aitova, Gelfand, Bondarik, Adagamov, Kara-Murza, Dolgikh. Update. A few clarifications about the plan. The plan is being constantly expanded. If you have ideas about what should be added to it (something realistic and effective), write in. Where it says "the person responsible is so-and-so," that simply means I know for certain that this person will definitely do it. The other Council members will simply add their names to the points where they are ready to work.