Human rights activists who defend the rights of prisoners are accused of organising the activities of an ‘undesirable organisation’ (Part 3 of Article 284.1 of the Russian Criminal Code). On 16 December, security forces conducted searches at the homes of Alexei Sokolov, Larisa Zakharova and Roman Kachanov. According to the investigation, under the guise of human rights work in places of deprivation of liberty, the lawyers received and used grants from organisations recognised as ‘undesirable’ in Russia: the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the National Endowment for Democracy.
According to the report, the denunciation of the Ural human rights defenders was written by Ekaterina Saprykina, head of the pro-government association Volunteer Company of the Combat Brotherhood.