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Dear friends and colleagues! 

Your support is vital for our Participant and member of the international network Youth Human Rights Movement – Anastasia Denisova (Krasnodar, Russia). A criminal charge is filed against her. She could be sentenced to prison on fraud charges for several years.

Since 2007 you might have heard or read about different incident of harassment of Anastasia Denisova, her colleagues and NGO “ETHnICS” she is the head of because of its human rights activities. You can read more about this following this link.

Unfortunately, the situation evolved so rapidly that in late 2009 it came to a criminal case and accusation of “illegal use of objects of copyright (software) with the use of official position” and “creation of computer viruses”. Maximum penalty for these crimes is up to 9 years of imprisonment. In spite of numerous law violations and the absurdness of accusation, the case has reached the court. More details about how the criminal case was initiated and why we consider it a demonstrative pressure on a human rights defender are here.

In this respect, we ask you to support Anastasia!

1. Fax and mail the appeal to the Public Prosecutor of Krasnodar krai with the copy to Prosecutor General, Plenipotentiary of the President of Russian in South Federal District. You can download the typical appeal here or request for it here - solidarity-Denisova@yhrm.org

2. Visit the court trial in Krasnodar (the first open hearing will be around 1-2 April, 2010)

3. Follow the updates on the website in support of Anastasia: http://denisova.yhrm.org/, and her personal blog –ipostas.livejournal.com

4. Spread the word about the situation around Anastasia's case and pressure in Krasnodar krai in general:

• post about it in your blog;

• tell about it to your fellow journalists, and bloggers, probably this topic might seem attractive to them;

5. Appeal to Microsoft and Corel and demand to announce their position publicly – what is their attitude to the fact that on their behalf their representatives in different regions of the Russian Federation instigate criminal cases against civil activists and human rights defenders under the pretext of fight for legal software?

Solidarity team with Anastasia Denisova : solidarity-Denisova@yhrm.org
Team in support of human rights defenders of YHRM: HRD@yhrm.org
Website in support of Anastasia: http://denisova.yhrm.org

Typical appeal you can find here.

1 step:

• If you appeal on behalf of an organization, then paste the text to the blank with the letterhead, insert the date, signature, position and name of the head of your organization.

• If you appeal personally, change “we” into “I” in the text and insert other necessary changes, include the date, your name and country/city, do not forget to sign it.

2 step:

• Fax and then mail it to the following addressee

To the Prosecutor of Zapadnyi district of the city of Krasnodar

Golota Vladimir Nikolaevich

350020, Krasnodar, Odesskaya, 1

fax: +7 (861) 215-98-67, tel +7 (861) 215-64-18

and copies to:

General Public Prosecutor of the Russian Federation

Chaika Yuri Yakovlevich

125993 Moscow, Bolshaya Dmitrovka, 15 a

tel: +7 (495) 987-56-56, +7 (495) 692-17-25

Plenipotentiary of President of the Russian Federation to South Federal District

Ustinov Vladimir Vasilyevich

Rostov-on-Don, Bolshaya Sadovaya, 73

tel. +7 (863) 249-99-43, fax +7 (863) 249-99-47

Governor of Krasnodar krai

Tkachov Alexandr Nikolaevich

Krasnodar, Krasnaya, 35.

Tel/fax: +7 (861) 262-57-16,

fax: +7 (861) 268-35-42

It is very important to fax this appeal as soon as possible as the court hearing is coming in the following weeks! It is also desirable to send the appeal with the regular mail service.

3 step:

We ask you to inform us if you have taken any of the above mentioned actions in support of Anastasia Denisova: solidarity-Denisova@yhrm.org