The number of political prisoners in Russia has grown almost fivefold in five years | News from Germany about Russia | DW

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The number of political prisoners in Russia has reached at least 420 people. This was reported on the website of the human rights organization “Memorial” on Wednesday, October 27.

Of these, 340 people were imprisoned for religious reasons, 80 for other political reasons, the organization notes. In reality, these figures may be much higher, said Memorial spokesman Sergei Davidis to Meduza.

“This number is conditional: someone is added, someone leaves. We call a person a political prisoner when we can analyze what and on what grounds he was convicted, and reasonably refute these arguments in court. This means that we must find out about this. And about many we do not learn at all or learn with a delay. There are also cases that we know about, but cannot get the case materials, “said Davidis.

The number of political prisoners in Russia is almost at the level of the late USSR

In recent years, the number of political prisoners in the Russian Federation has been constantly growing. Last year there were 362 names on the list, and five years ago, in 2016, Memorial recognized less than 100 people as political prisoners. “Now in Russia the number of political prisoners is comparable to the number in the late USSR, until Gorbachev released them,” said Sergei Davidis.

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