HRW denounces the forced disappearance of Russian dissident Andrei Pivovarov

18 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The organization Human Rights Watch has raised alarm this Friday about the possible forced disappearance of the political prisoner Andrei Pivovarov, former director of the NGO Open Russia, in a prison in Saint Petersburg and urges the Russian authorities to release him.

The Russian authorities have refused for the last month to provide information on the whereabouts of Pivovarov, a situation that was alerted by his family and lawyer, who last heard from him on January 18 when they received a letter notifying them that he was to be transferred from a St. Petersburg prison to a penal colony in the Karelia region.

Pivovarov, 41, had been executive director of the defunct Open Russia civic pro-democracy movement and was sentenced to four years in prison in July 2022, accused of running an “undesirable organization”.

“After jailing him on baseless charges, the Russian authorities have further violated Andrei Pivovarov’s rights by forcibly making him disappear,” said Damelya Aitkhozhina, Europe and Central Asia researcher for HRW.

According to the organization, Pivovarov’s lawyer and his family have filed several formal complaints, but Russian law does not include the obligation to report the well-being and whereabouts of inmates during a transfer, and there are no time limits for these transfers.