The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has called on Russia to release activist Alexey Sokolov and drop all charges against him. In a press release issued on Friday, the OHCHR emphasized that Russia’s actions against Sokolov, who was detained for purportedly using “extremist symbols” on his Telegram channel, violate basic human rights principles.
Alexey Sokolov was charged under Article 282.4 of the Criminal Code for the “repeated demonstration of prohibited symbols,” after posting the Facebook logo, following the Russian government’s ban on Meta, Facebook’s parent company. The use of Meta’s services was initially not considered as participation in extremist activities by the Russian prosecutor’s office.
The OHCHR reported that Sokolov was subjected to a severe arrest on July 5th, including being placed face-down and interrogated about his supposed criminal affiliations. Russian police also confiscated documents from his property, later cited as evidence of his involvement in foreign intelligence activities, although the OHCHR clarified that these documents merely contained statements from victims intended for UN use to demonstrate human rights violations in Russian detention facilities.
Amnesty International’s Russia Director, Natalia Zviagina, stated that Sokolov’s arrest represents retaliation for his longstanding efforts to defend prisoners’ rights and expose torture within Russian prisons. The activist leads the NGO Legal Basis (Pravovaya Osnova), which has faced increasing scrutiny from Russian authorities, including being labeled a “foreign agent” in 2015.
This incident is reminiscent of the case of Oleg Orlov, another human rights activist charged under Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code for his criticism of Russia’s military actions in Ukraine. Orlov’s lawyer argued that condemning state actions as “fascist” should not be considered extremism. Such cases reflect ongoing challenges faced by human rights activists in Russia, as authorities continue to crack down on dissent and activism.
More information can be found in the detailed report by JURIST here.