Side Event at OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Winter Meeting Discusses Issue of Political Prisoners in Participating States, Including Russian Federation
February 21, 2020
During a side event at the winter meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vienna, Austria on February 21, 2020, panelists discussed the issue of political prisoners in participating states, including the Russian Federation.
Speakers included Maria Eismont, a lawyer and a journalist; Vladimir Kara-Murza, Vice President, Free Russia Foundation; Gunnar M. Ekeløve-Slydal, Head of Policies of Norwegian Helsinki Committee; Ilya Nuzov, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH); and Olga Shamshur Flydal, Senior Advisor at Norwegian Helsinki Committee.
Among the cases discussed at the meeting was the case of Alexey Pichugin, Russia’s longest-serving political prisoner who has been incarcerated since 2003.
According to the Free Russia Foundation, presenters referenced the definition of political prisoners adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in 2012, and endorsed by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in 2014.
The above-referenced definition is as follows:
Political imprisonment or deprivation of liberty
- violates the European Convention of Human Rights and its Protocols;
- is imposed for purely political reasons;
- is excessively long or conditions are clearly out of proportion related to the offence the person has been found guilty of;
- is discriminatory in the manner of detention compared to other persons; or
- is the result of proceedings which were unfair and this appears to be connected with political motives of authorities.
