A group called Russians in Cyprus Against war (RAW) are organising a demonstration in Limassol demanding that political prisoners in Russia be released.

The rally will take place at 5pm at the Old Port Square calling for the immediate release of Alexei Navalny, Lilia Chanysheva, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Sasha Skochilenko, Ivan Safronov, “and all of the hundreds of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience facing unjust persecution, and also in support of all those that have been historically persecuted” the group said.

“We must not forget those who have fought for collective freedom at the cost of their freedom, those who were not afraid to speak, and now find themselves bound hand and foot by Russian injustice. It is time for us all to defend the rights of all political prisoners.”

“Now, more than ever, it is even more important to rally in support,” it added, because according to the Human Rights Centre Memorial before it was dissolved, 53 criminal cases have been initiated under new laws relating to fake news. Over 600 people face persecution, with 87 already incarcerated or in pre-trial detention centres, it said.

RAW said that because Russia has withdrawn from the Council of Europe, its citizens have lost access to the vital European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which has resulted in a situation “that can only be described as a disaster as political prisoners left to face an unjust system whose goal is to simply eliminate any dissent (including opposition to the war in Ukraine), without any support”.