Right of assembly: Moscow court extends house arrest of Sergei Udaltsov  /  Moscow court dismisses abduction complaint by Leonid Razvozzhaev  /  Moscow rally in support of those charged over Bolotnaya Square rally  /  24 protesters arrested on Red Square  /  Independent inquiry vindicates protesters at May 2012 rally  /  Konstantin Lebedev sentenced  / New commission of experts on May rally  announced 

Aleksei Navalny: Navalny's criticism of the government made investigators ‘accelerate’ case against him  / Rally in Moscow against trial of Navalny  /  New — fifth — charge against Navalny  /  Navalny says trial would prove his innocence  /  UN Special Rapporteur urges Russian Government to guarantee independence of justice system 

Mikhail Savva: FSB detains Mikhail Savva  /  Court orders Savva be held in custody  /  Wife says case is politically motivated 

Leonid Razvozzhaev case: Razvozzhaev taken from pre-trial detention in Irkutsk to Moscow / Charged with making a false accusation / Pre-trial detention extended by four months. 

Right of association: Moscow prosecutors conduct inspections of NGOs / Law enforcement agencies conduct inspections in Krasnodar / Inspections on  21/3, 25/3, 27/3, and 28/3 / Pavel Chikov (Agora) and Lev Ponomarev (For Human Rights) summoned for questioning / Charges brought against Lev Ponomarev / EU-Russia Civil Society Forum and Amnesty International, Frontline Defenders and Human Rights Watch express concern at the inspections / Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civil Society called on Prosecutor General to explain inspections / Memorial Human Rights Centre asks Moscow Prosecutor's Office to explain legal grounds for inspections 

North Caucasus: Special forces in Dagestan killed alleged terrorist  /  Human Rights Watch reported on the exploitation of migrant workers in Sochi  /  President Putin signed decree allowing conscripts to be sent to internal conflict zones  /  NGOs called on the President of Dagestan to ensure justice for Alibek Mirzekhanov  /  Amnesty International reported investigation opened into death threats against lawyer Magamed Abubakarov

Civil society activists: Leonid Razvozzhaev sent to Irkutsk  / Razvozzhaev agrees charges of robbery in Irkutsk be dropped  /  Razvozzhaev appeals against refusal to investigate abduction in Ukraine  /  Razvozzhaev says guards not allowing him to sit or lie on bed  /  Investigative Committee says Razvozzhaev charged with making a false crime report  /  Razvozzhaev demands to be moved to Moscow  /  Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich withdraws complaint against former lawyers  /  Court dismisses appeal by Maria Alekhina to defer sentence  / Video of Pussy Riot's protest against President Putin banned in Russia  /  Aleksandr Dolmatov commits suicide in Netherlands  /  Supporters of Dolmatov accuse Netherlands of complicity in his suicide  /  Dolmatov’s mother asks Queen of Netherlands to help investigate death of son  /  Human Rights Watch launch annual report describing “crackdown against civic activism”  

Prisons Members of Chelyabinsk Public Oversight Commission publish evidence of torture at Kopeisk No. 6  /  Beating of prisoners reported at Atlyan Juvenile Penal Colony  

Freedom of expression Newsreader Kazbek Gekkiyev shot dead  / Pussy Riot member Maria Alekhina faces disciplinary action / Russian government seeks to ban monograph by Stanislav Dmitrievsky  / Documentary film project “The Term”  temporarily halted 

Right of assembly About 70 detained at Moscow protest on Lubyanka Square  /  Eduard Limonov and two dozen other activists detained on 31 December

Civil society activists  Grigory Oganezov reported threats / Jenny Kurpen filed a complaint with Strasbourg Court for alleged police torture  /  Homes of activists searched in Moscow, Nizhny Novogorod, and Voronezh  / Suren Gazaryan placed on federal police wanted list  /  Aleksei Navalny charged with fraud and money laundering 

Anna Politkovskaya  Dmitry Pavliuchenkov sentenced to 11 years in prison  /  Lawyer for Politkovskaya’s family appealed against  sentence as too mild 

Leonid Razvozzhaev  European Court of Human Rights asks Russia and Ukraine for information  / Razvozzhaev’s lawyer alleges his client threatened  /  Razvozzhaev sent to Chelyabinsk; asks to return to Moscow.

Torture Razvozzhayev retracts confession / rights advocates allege torture of Razvozzhayev to UN / protestors demand Razvozzhaev’s release / Investigative Committee dismisses Razvozzhaev’s claims he was kidnapped and tortured / Alternative Report to the UN CAT / UN CAT concludes review / Prosecutor General says rights violations by law enforcement ‘ubiquitous’ / UN officials criticize Russia on torture 

New NGO law Amnesty International concerned over freedom of association / new law on NGOs comes into force / NGOs  harassed with graffiti or pickets / activists said they would boycott new NGO law / Moscow Helsinki Group calls for donations  

Pussy Riot  Moscow city court declares Pussy Riot's “punk prayer” video extremist / lawyers say no longer represent Pussy Riot / lawyer alleges prison officials and inmates put pressure on clients / Alekhina transferred to solitary confinement  

Prisons 250 prisoners protest at Penal Colony No. 6 in Kopeisk / Public Oversight Commission said prisoners complain of violations by staff / official investigation begins into protests / former prison officers arrested at prison in Rostov region after a video shows staff beating inmate 

Treason On 10/11 amendments expanding the legal definition of treason came into force. On 9/11 Siberian physicist Valentin Danilov, jailed on charges of espionage and treason, was granted parole. He arrived in Novosibirsk following his release on 26/11. 

Right of assembly Concerns about effect of extended pretrial detention on Bolotnaya suspects' health / Moscow court sentenced Maksim Luzyanin to 4 1/2 years in jail / Moscow City Hall refused to permit rally 

Freedom of expression: Shenderovich's website banned in Tomsk / Proposal to ban under 18s from public Wi-Fi / Innocence of Muslims banned / Efimov gets political asylum in Estonia 

NGOs:  Mari El region bans participation with NGOs on foreign funding / New bill on NGO transparency / USAID to leave Russia / Memorial will not comply with 'foreign agents' bill 

Freedom of expression: Online news resources add "18+" adult content warning to sites / Federal agents question Esquire reporter / Court rejects Navalny’s request for appeal / Rostelecom bars YouTube in Omsk region / Duma approves treason bill in first reading / New bill to make offending believers an offence 

Freedom of conscience: Moscow demolishes Pentecostal church / Pentecostal Pastor fined for holding religious service under new law / Moscow  shelves plans for new mosque  

On 21/7 President Putin signed into law a bill tightening regulation of NGOs that receive funding from abroad, including a requirement that they be registered as ‘foreign agents.’ On 6/7 NGOs signed a joint declaration against the bill. 

Right of assembly 

On 2/7 rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin said there had been no ‘riot’ at the demonstration on 6/5 on Bolotnaya Square. On 12/7 Memorial said the prosecutions of 14 people related to the Bolotnaya demonstration were political in nature. On 25/7 two more activists, Nikolai Kavkazsky and Aleksei Polikhovich, were arrested in connection with the investigation. On 26/7 hundreds attended a Moscow rally in support of the detainees, organized by the ‘May 6 Committee’ that provides the detainees with legal representation. 

Freedom of expression 

On 28/7 President Putin signed into law a bill recriminalizing defamation, and a bill creating a ‘website blacklist’ that will force Internet companies to block banned content. On 7/7 journalist Aleksandr Khodzinsky was murdered in Tulun, Irkutsk region. On 16/7 the final indictment against ex-police officer Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov was filed for conspiracy to murder journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006. As reported 18/7, the Federal Mass Media Inspection Service sent notices to YouTube, LiveJournal, and four other websites demanding they cease ‘illegal’ publication of Russians' personal information. 

Anti-Extremism law 

On 26/7 blogger Maksim Efimov, prosecuted for ‘extremism’ for criticizing the Orthodox Church, said he was in Poland and would ask for political asylum there. On 30/7 ten Jehovah's Witnesses in Chuvashia were charged with criminal acts including the incitement of hatred and extremism. 

Pussy Riot 

On 2/7 federal ombudsman Vladimir Lukin said it was ‘absolutely against our law’ that the three Pussy Riot singers Maria Alekhina, Ekaterina Samutsevich, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, arrested in February for performing an anti-Kremlin song in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral, were still in custody. On 4/7 the three detained members of Pussy Riot went on hunger strike to protest against a court ruling they must prepare their legal defence by 9/7. On 9/7 a Moscow court prolonged their term in custody until 24/7. On 11/7 the investigation was concluded. On 20/7 Moscow’s Kamovnichesky court ruled the three women would remain in custody until 12/1/2013. On 30/7 the trial of Pussy Riot opened in Moscow, and the three pleaded not guilty to charges of hooliganism and religious hatred. 

Rights defenders, civic activists 

On 7/7 Igor Kalyapin, chair of the Committee Against Torture, was threatened with criminal proceedings in connection with the NGO’s work in support of victims of rights violations in Chechnya. On 13/7 Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International called on theRussian authorities to bring to justice those who killed rights activist Natalia Estemirova in 2009. On 5/7 Aleksandr Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, ordered a criminal case against Aleksei Navalny in Kirov region, concerning alleged losses to a state company in August 2009, to be reopened and transferred to Moscow. On 26/7 Navalny accused Bastrykin of concealing real estate and business interests in the Czech Republic. On 31/7 Navalny was charged under Article 160-3-33 of the Russian Criminal Code (embezzlement on a grand scale) and ordered not to leave Moscow. On 26/7 Moscow’s Basmanny district court ruled money seized from activist Ksenia Sobchak during searches of her house on 11/6 should not be returned at present. 

Conditions in detention 

On 9/7 Raisat Elmurzaeva, a Dagestan resident, said her son held in detention in Makhachkala reported inmates were on hunger strike in protest at torture. On 23/7 it was reported up to 900 prisoners were refusing food and five slashed their forearms in a prison in Bashkortostan after an inmate was beaten to death on 17/7. 

On 6/6 the Federation Council approved the new restrictive bill on public assemblies. On 8/6 President Putin signed the bill into law. On 26/6 a bill outlawing ‘homosexual propaganda’ to minors was adopted in Samara Region, with fines for infringements of up to 500,000 roubles. On 29/6 a bill was submitted to the State Duma that would impose heavy fines and jail terms on foreign-funded NGOs involved in ‘political’ activity that failed to register on a state list as ‘foreign agents’. 

Right of assembly 

On 4/6 new charges of participating in mass unrest were related to the 6/5 demonstration were filed against Alexandra Dukhanina. On 10/6 police arrested five more people in relation to the May 6 demonstration. On 11/6, investigators searched the Moscow apartments of opposition activists, including those of Aleksei Navalny, Sergei Udaltsov, Kseniya Sobchak, Boris Nemtsov, Ilya Yashin, Pyotr Verzilov and Maria Baranova. Solidarnost activist Mikhail Maglov was detained. On 12/6 the websites of Echo of Moscow Radio, Novaya gazeta, Rain TV and Slon.Ru suffered DDoS attacks. On 12/6 police interrogated leading opposition figures Aleksei Navalny, Ilya Yashin and Ksenia Sobchak. On 12/6 a ‘March of Millions’ took place in Moscow on Russia Day calling for “a free Russia” and “a Russia without Putin”. Sources put the total number of protestors at between 50,000 and 200,000 people. Sergei Udaltsov, ordered to appear for questioning, attended the rally. On 12/6 three Kemerovo residents were detained by police for an unsanctioned protest. On 16/6 police detained 10 activists protesting outside the offices of the Investigative Committee against the questioning of opposition leaders (on 18/6, one of these, Vadim Dergachev, was sentenced to 10 days in jail). On 17/6 six activists from The Other Russia party were detained in Moscow when they unfurled a ‘Russia without Putin’ banner. On 21/6 Moscow police charged Maria Baronova with inciting violence at the 6/5 rally. On 22/6 Oleg Shein was fined 20,000 roubles for an unsanctioned public protest on 12/6 in Astrakhan. 

Media rights 

On 7/6 Demyan Kudryavtsev CEO of the Kommersant holding company and Phillip Dzyadko editor of Bolshoi Gorod magazine left their jobs. On 13/6 Novaya gazeta chief editor Dmitry Muratov claimed Aleksandr Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, threatened his deputy editor Sergei Sokolov, who fled the country. On 13/6 the Union of Journalists of Russia appealed to the General Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the conflict between Bastrykin and Sokolov. On 18/6 the Chuvashia Supreme Court ruled owners of internet fora are not liable for users’ comments. On 28/6 the Supreme Court of Karelia quashed a lower court’s ruling that rights activist Maksim Efimov undergo an in-patient psychiatric examination on account of a blog he wrote and sent the case back for new consideration. 

North Caucasus 

On 18/6 El'dar Mamaev was abducted in Nal'chik by unidentified masked persons. On 20/6 a court in Tuapse convicted environmentalists Suren Gazaryan and Evgeniy Vitishko of criminal damage to a construction fence following a trial that raised serious due process concerns. On 21/6 Amnesty International said the security threat for many North Caucasus residents comes from law-enforcement agencies as much as from armed groups. 

Pussy Riot case 

On 5/6 the investigation into three members of the Pussy Riot music group, who sang in Christ the Saviour Cathedral, was completed and materials passed to the Investigative Committee for review, including regarding a possible offence under Article 282 ("Extremism"). On 21/6 a Moscow court prolonged the custody of the three until 24/7; police detained 19 protestors outside the court. On 27/6 more than 100 prominent Russians called on the Supreme Court and Moscow City Court to release the three from custody.