The mother of Akhmed Balkarov, who is serving a sentence in Correctional Colony No. 4 in the Penza Region, contacted the Kabardino-Balkarian Human Rights Center. She alleged that her son was subjected to ethnic and religious discrimination by the prison administration. He was repeatedly forbidden to practice Islam.
Moscow's Basmanny Court sentenced co-chairman of the movement for the protection of voters' rights Golos Grigory Melkonyants to five years in prison. He was found guilty of organizing the work of an "undesirable" organization.
Earlier, Grigory Melkonyants emphasized in court that the criminal case does not include the event of the crime itself. The Golos movement trained observers and monitored violations in Russian political elections.
According to the investigation, Golos was part of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), which was declared "undesirable" in Russia.
Grigory Melkonyants' father, Arkady Amayakovich, is an Armenian and was the founder and head of the Ecology of the Soul foundation. He was involved in providing material and social assistance to the disabled and sick.