Russia Coordinator Erler on charges brought against Valentina Cherevatenko

Gernot Erler, Coordinator for Intersocietal Cooperation with Russia, Central Asia and the Eastern Partnership Countries, issued the following statement today (3 June) on the charges brought by the Russian judiciary against Valentina Cherevatenko, human rights activist and head of the non‑governmental organisation Women of the Don:

Zusatzinformationen

I am very concerned about the charges brought against the renowned civil society activist Valentina Cherevatenko, a winner of the 2016 Franco-German Prize for Human Rights. The Federal Government has signalled to the Russian side on repeated occasions that it would be disproportionate to prosecute Cherevatenko for the actions of which she stands accused. At the same time, a possible conviction would be a blow to civil society cooperation between our countries. I very much hope that it doesn’t come to that. Civil society cooperation should be promoted and not impeded.

The Federal Government will continue to keep a close eye on this case and stand up for Ms Cherevatenko.

Background information:
Charges were brought against Valentina Cherevatenko, head of the NGO Women of the Don, on 2 June 2017. First criminal proceedings had been initiated in accordance with the “Foreign Agents” legislation (Article 330.1 of the Russian Criminal Code) on 22 June 2016 and were not communicated to her until 27 June 2016. If convicted, she faces a fine or a prison sentence of up to two years. The winner of the 2016 Franco-German Prize for Human Rights is accused of having cooperated with a German foundation for one of her projects, without voluntarily registering the Women of the Don as a “foreign agent”. Cherevatenko takes part in the civil society working group of the Petersburg dialogue. A German partner organisation has secured Eastern Partnership funding for a Ukrainian-Russian dialogue project that the NGO Women of the Don is supposed to help implement.

from
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Infoservice/Presse/Meldungen/2017/170603_Erler_Tscherewatenko.html?nn=479796