Person of the Week: Svetlana Davydova

posted 2 Feb 2015, 05:01 by Rights in Russia   [ updated 16 Feb 2015, 10:47 ]
Svetlana Davydova, from Vyazma in Smolensk region, has been held in custody by the FSB at Lefortovo pre-trial detention facility since late January under investigation on charges of treason. Allegedly last April Davydova telephoned the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow and told them that troops from a military base near her home had been sent to another location, which she suspected was Ukraine. As of 1 February, more than 22,000 people have signed a petition published by Novaya gazeta, calling for her release. Davydova is a mother of seven, the youngest of which she is breast-feeding. She has been separated from her children in Lefortovo.

The Moscow Times: "A Smolensk woman faces charges of high treason after she phoned Ukrainian diplomats to warn them that Russian troops may be en route to their country, newspaper Kommersant reported Thursday. The woman, identified in the report as a mother of seven named Svetlana Davydova, is currently being held in Moscow's Lefortovo pre-trial detention facility after a court issued an arrest warrant last week, according to the report. The alleged crime occurred last April, when Davydova contacted the Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow and told them that a military base near her home had been virtually emptied after the troops were sent somewhere, her husband, Anatoly Gorlov, was cited as saying by Kommersant."

- Source: Allison Quinn, 'Russian Mom Faces Treason Charges for Call to Ukrainian Embassy',  The Moscow Times, 29 January 2015

RFE/RL: "More than 22,000 people have signed a petition asking Russian President Vladimir Putin to secure the release of Svetlana Davydova, a 36-year-old mother of seven who is accused of treason, from pretrial detention.  The petition, published on the website of the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, says Davydova should be allowed "to return home to her children," including an infant it says she had been breast-feeding. The Russian children's ombudsman, Pavel Astakhov, said on Ekho Moskvy radio that the authorties involved in Davydova's should take into consideration the need of her children for their mother. Davydova has been in a detention cell since being taken into custody in late January in the town of Vyazma. [...]"
Source:  'Thousands Sign Petition To Help Russian 'Treason' Suspect', RFE/RL, 1 February 2015

Photo: HRO.org

Each week Rights in Russia highlights the activities of a human rights defender, civil rights activist, victim of alleged human rights abuses, or alleged perpetrator of such abuses
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