Human Rights in Russia Week-ending 14 May 2021 - with Elena Pershakova

Simon and Sergei

This week our guest on the podcast is Elena Pershakova. Elena is head of the Legal Practice for Fundamental Freedoms department at the Public Verdict Foundation. She has been involved in human rights activities since 1999 and began her career in Perm.

The questions discussed in the podcast include: freedom of conscience in Perm and in Russia (about Jehovah's Witnesses); how Russia's regions differ from one another in terms of the judicial system; the work of a human rights lawyer; Public Verdict Foundation; freedom of association in Russia; the law on 'foreign agents'; the Public Oversight Commissions; regional human rights ombudsmen; freedom of assembly in Russia; the role of the ECtHR in Russia; last year's amendments to the Constitution; Russia and the Council of Europe; the future of human rights in Russia.

This podcast is in Russian. You can also listen to the podcast on our website [https://www.rightsinrussia.org/category/podcasts/] or on SoundCloud, Spotify and iTunes.

The music, from Stravinsky’s Elegy for Solo Viola, is performed for us by Karolina Herrera.

Sergei Nikitin writes: "Many years ago I questioned Sergei Borisovich Parkhomenko about his arrest outside the Moskvoretsky Court. At that time two different police officers wrote different reports on him and each said that he had detained Parkhomenko - but for different acts. Sergei Parkhomenko said he would challenge the decision in the Eurpean Court of Human Rights and that his case was being handled by Elena Pershakova, an excellent lawyer from Public Verdict Foundation, as he particularly emphasized. Six months ago, I learned that the ECtHR had found that Russia in this case had violated the rights to peaceful assembly and fair trial and ordered the Russian Federation to pay each of the detainees, including Sergei Parkhomenko, 5,000 euros in compensation. Sergei Borisovich said on this occasion: 'I would particularly like to express my gratitude and admiration for the tenacity and resolve of the lawyers Kirill Koroteev, Elena Pershakova and their colleagues who brought the case to a victorious end after all these years.' Last week Simon Cosgrove and I spoke with Lena about her work at Public Verdict, the human rights situation in Russia and in Perm, the role of the ECtHR, whether Russia will withdraw from the Council of Europe and much more. I took the opportunity to tell Lena how much I love her pictures of the Kama River from the 18th floor. Truly, Lena has many talents! "

Simon Cosgrove adds: "If you want to listen to this podcast on the podcasts.com website and it doesn’t seem to play, please download by clicking on the three dots to the right. A summary of some of the week’s events in Russia relevant to human rights can be found on our website here: https//rightsinrussia.org/week-ending-14-may-2021 ."