U.S. House Committee approves resolution calling for the release of Alexey Pichugin and other Russian political prisoners

October 2, 2020

At its markup meeting held on October 1, 2020, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs voted to approve House Resolution 958 “condemning the practice of politically motivated imprisonment and calling for the immediate release of political prisoners in the Russian Federation and urging action by the United States Government to impose sanctions with respect to persons responsible for that form of human rights abuse.”

The bill, introduced in May and co-sponsored by more than 20 Members of Congress from the Democratic and Republican parties, references the case of Alexey Pichugin, describing him as “the Russian Federation’s longest-detained political prisoner” incarcerated in violation of rulings by the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Introducing the resolution, Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY) said that it will serve to “underscore the absolutely rampant political imprisonments in Russia.” According to the Memorial Human Rights Centre, there are currently 328 political and religious prisoners in the Russian Federation, in accordance with criteria established by the Council of Europe.

House Resolution 958 directly calls on the Russian Government to release all political prisoners, including Alexey Pichugin, and urges the U.S. Government to impose sanctions under the Magnitsky Act on Russian officials responsible for politically motived imprisonment.

Following approval in the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Resolution 958 proceeds to the full House of Representatives for floor passage.

Источник: Youtube