Russian writer and antifascist Pjotr Silajev is still arrested in Madrid. Silajev had been granted a political asylum in Finland early this year. The Finnish embassy in Madrid has said that Silajev can be kept arrested for 40 days!
The Spanish police arrested Silajev in Granada because of request from Interpol on the 21st of august. Contrary to the expectations, he was not released in a trial in Madrid on the 22nd of august, even though the Finnish embassy had provided all the papers concerning his asylum and right to stay in the country. The court wouldnt comment the case. The Spanish police said that he only had a Russian passport when he was arrested. It is not clear how the Finnish state will react to the arrest.
The Moscow Times interviewed Tanya Lokshina from The Human Rights Watch, who said that the Spanish state does not have to take into concideration the asylum from Finland and are free to send him back to Russia. This does not seem possible. The Finnish YLE news has interviewed the head of the immigration office Esko Repo who said that all the European Union countries are committed to not sending people to countries where they might face prosecution.
The lawyer of Silajev said the situation looks bad.
The Moscow Times said that the hardening line of the Russian government towards protests can lead to even more cases where people need to flee the country. The case of Silajev can be connected to other cases where people who had fled the country have been tried to be sent back.
Silajev was granted asylum from Finland in april of this year. The reason was the continuing political prosecution in Russia. The Russian Federation wants him convicted for demonstrations against a highway in the Khimki region outside Moscow. Among other protests, the house of the city council was attacked and some people throw stones and fireworks in the building in 2010.
The hunt of Silajev seems to be the last resort for the prosecutor to convict someone from the Khimki protests. Last year Aleksey Gaskarov, who was arrested for months, was releassed of all charges and Maxim Solopov received a two year sentence for hooliganism. The third suspect Denis Solopov has received an asylum from the Netherlands.
The Moscow Times have said that the mayor of Khimki Vladimir Strelchenko resigned last week because of pressure from the new governor of Moscow. Strelchenko is suspected of organising attacks against the protesters who were resisting the building of the highway.
We are asking for solidarity from our comrades in Madrid and other parts of the Spanish state! Support our anarchist and antifascist comrade!
Spread the word!
Taken from Finnish anarchist web page Takku.net
