On 17 March an urgent appeal, addressed to Dmitry Medvedev, was launched on the website of the Human Rights Online organisation (www.hro.org). There follows the text and signatures to date on this petition to the Russian president-elect.

Dear Dmitry Medvedev,

We write to request your decisive intervention in the fate of Vasily Aleksanyan, the gravely ill Yukos general counsel, who is now about to enter his third year of pre-trial custody in Moscow.

Mr Aleksanyan suffers from life-threatening illnesses: he has fully-developed AIDS, cancer of the lymphatic system and tuberculosis. He is also now practically blind. In accordance with decree No 54, issued by the Russian government on 6 February 2004, “Concerning the medical attestation of prisoners put forward for release on grounds of their illness” Vasily Aleksanyan should be freed from serving his sentence behind bars once he has been convicted.

Yet contrary to logic and common sense Mr Aleksanyan is detained in custody although he has not yet even come to trial. Despite extremely poor health and the rapid advance of his illness, the Moscow City Court has once again refused to release an incurably sick man by revoking this measure of restraint.

Despite urgent medical recommendations, Vasily Aleksanyan’s transfer to a civilian clinic was unacceptably delayed, thereby considerably worsening his condition. Today the constant presence of a guard in his hospital room, the iron bars on the window and his strict isolation all hinder his treatment.

Mr Medvedev:

As president-elect of the Russian Federation we are appealing to you to intervene in an outrageous situation, which has already caught the world’s attention and is having a noticeably harmful effect on Russia’s international prestige.

We ask that you show compassion, a commitment to elementary principles of humane and charitable behaviour and, in accordance with the law and the RF Constitution, swiftly move to ensure the rapid release from detention of Vasily Aleksanyan, in view of his grave and incurable illness.
Signed:

Yelena Sannikova, philologist and human rights activist
Tatiana Monakhova, librarian and human rights activist
Mikhail Kriger, businessman and public activist
Ludmila Yevstigeyeva, proof-reader
Andrei Blinushov, chair of the Ryazan Memorial society, chief editor of the Human Rights in Russia portal (www.hro.org)
Julia Bashinova, civil activist
Venyamin Dmitroshkin, Vsevolod Chernozub & Pavel Nikulin, activists of the Free Radicals movement (Moscow)
Alexandra Pershina, philology student at Moscow University
Maria Paramonova, Legal Team civil activist
Nikolai Zboroshenko, Legal Team civil activist
Valentina Chubarova, civil activist
Raisa Grishechkina, human rights activist (Rostov-on-Don)
Yekaterina Kashirskaya, child psychologist
Sergei Shabanov, activist of the Youth Human Rights Movement

The following have added their names to the appeal:

Batenkova, Yelena, pedagogue (Moscow)
Brodsky, Dmitry, coordinator of the Feedback educational project (Moscow)
Minkin, Mikhail, doctor (New York, USA)
Minkina, Alla, teacher (New York, USA)
Korablyova, Irina, doctor (Cleveland, USA)
Drankov, Alexander, psychologist (Cleveland, USA)
Ivanova, Lubov, translator, pensioner (Moscow)
Tokarev, Ivan, actor (Moscow)
Veselovskaya, Yelena, pensioner (Moscow)
Chudakov, Mikhail, journalist & poet (Moscow)
Kazakov, Alexander, coordinator of the Oborona “defence” movement (Moscow)
Trepashkin, Mikhail, defence attorney (Moscow)
Volkova, Maria (Moscow Region)
Mitronov, Pavel (Moscow)
Vologina, Irina, engineer (Moscow)
Mikhailova, Olga, defence attorney (Moscow)
Lyakhov, Yury, engineer (Moscow)
Kosinova, Tatiana, journalist (St Petersburg)
Kholobayeva, Darya, student (Moscow)
Simonov, Alexei, Glasnost Defence Foundation (Moscow)
Maglevannaya, Yelena (Volgograd)
Bekirova, Gulnara, historian and chief editor of Crimea and the Crimean Tatars website (Moscow)
Samodurov, Yury, director of the Sakharov Museum and Centre
Tsaria, Lolita, chair of the Moscow branch of the United Civil Front
Feraposhkin, Vyacheslav, journalist
Lyuzakov, Pavel, editor of Svobodnoe Slovo newspaper
Yedigarov, Suren, United Civil Front activist
Fattaketdinov, Nadir, civil activist
Ponomaryov, Lev, For Human Rights movement
Yankelevich, Tatiana, Director of the Sakharov Program on Human Rights, Davis Center for Russian & Eurasian Studies, Harvard University
Cherny, Ernst (Moscow)
Frumkin, Yevgeny, member of Democratic Union
Shvedovsky, Felix, monk of the Nippondzan Mekhodzi order
Bitov, Andrei, president of Russian PEN Centre
Morozova, Yekaterina, sound operator (Moscow)
Leonov, Sergei, computer programmer (Moscow Region)
Bekhtold, Alexander, Ryazan branch of For Human Rights movement
Belov, Yury, student (Russian citizen studying in Tampere, Finland)
Ryabinina, Yelena (Moscow)
Shevelev, Pavel, artist (Moscow)
Sangadjieva, Inna, coordinator of projects, Norwegian Helsinki Committee (Oslo)
Markaryan, Sara, student (Sweden)
Machkovskaya, Natalie (Moscow)
Matveyev, Matvei, student
Shcherbakova, Ludmila, civil activist (Moscow)
Spivakov, Mikhail, biologist (London)
Shulman, Nelly
Repkin, Vyacheslav, electrical engineer (Novosibirsk)
Kovach, Sergei, student (Chelyabinsk)
Balashova, Julia, economist (St Petersburg)
Dolinov, Denis, computer programmer (St Petersburg)
Borshchevsky, Oleg, singer & author
Grishanovich, Vladimir, accountant (Tver)
Brovchenko, Yury, Glasnost foundation
Beznosov, Mikhail, Glasnost-Ukraine
Sertun, Tatiana (Moscow)
Vekua, Eka, student (St Petersburg)
Shaikin, Pavel, candidate for deputy in Moscow Assembly
Petrova, Maria, journalist (Yekaterinburg)
Trofimenko, Alexei, designer, Argumenty i fakty weekly
Istomina, Olga, social worker
Pane, Marie, Slavist and translator (Paris, France)
Strakhov, Kirill, journalist
Vasilyeva, Natalie, deputy chair of Khabarovsk Region Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers
Lykhina, Marianna, musician
Lykhin, Yevgeny, computer programmer
Zotova, Yelena, teacher (Chicago, USA)
Ovchinnikova, Natalie (Moscow)
Litosh, Vladislav, postgraduate researcher (Houston, USA)
Kirillova, Alexandra, student (St Petersburg)
Noskina, Julia, journalist (Barnaul)
Feigelman, Artyom, poet & student (Nizhny Novgorod)
Frolov, Artyom, physicist, Russian Academy of Sciences
Nikolaev, Victor, journalist (St Petersburg)
Larina, Svetlana (Kaliningrad)
Moroz, Andrey
Kuznetsov, Vladimir, Green Russia fraction of Yabloko
Murashova, Ollana, student
Astakhova, Alexandra, photo editor for Vedomosti daily (Moscow)
Golovin, Leo, financial specialist (Moscow)
Kudryavtseva, Marina, student and activist
Guryanov, Alexander, Memorial (Moscow)
Yakovlev, Danil (Moscow)
Ivanova, Yelena, public activist Youth Human Rights movement
Polyak, Rimma, independent journalist (Moscow)
Yakimov, Nikolai, musician (St Petersburg)
Bonner, Elena
Agranovsky, Grigory, journalist
Vilkind, Yury
Obolenskaya, Svetlana, historian & pensioner (Moscow)
Konikov, Arkady, computer programmer (Moscow)
Kitanina, Tatiana, philologist (St Petersburg)
Kemnits, Olga (Rassudovo, Moscow Region)
Novichkova, Julia, chief editor (St Petersburg)
Eisman, Alexander, Memorial (Moscow)
Rubtsova, Yevgenia, housewife (Moscow)
Pravikov, Alexander
Mishina, Marina, theatre worker and editor for information agency
Zilberstein, Yevgeny, engineer (Portland, USA)
Baranova, Yelisaveta
Varfolomeyev, Vladimir, journalist (Moscow)
Nikitin, Sergei, lecturer in higher education, editor
Levina, Izabella, philologist
Ivanova, Sofia, head of Ryazan School of Human Rights
Sosfenova, Margarita, translator (Moscow)
Danilenko, Julia (Voronezh)
Moskovskaya, Maria, librarian and journalist
Lomonosov, Dmitry (Moscow)
Brodskaya, Yevgenia, computer programmer (Boston, USA)
Khoroshavina, Ludmila, member of Conscience group
Durnovo, Grigory (Moscow)
Kasyanenko, Maria (St Petersburg)
Kasyanenko, Andrei (St Petersburg)
Vasilyeva, Vera, correspondent for the Human Rights in Russia portal
Vakhnina, Ludmila, civil activist (Moscow)
Brikker, Natalie, Ryazan Memorial
Okhotin, Nikita
Kondratenko, Leonid, postman (St Petersburg)
Topoleva, Yelena, manager
Serpukhova, Tatiana, Youth Human Rights Movement
Larionova, Darya, student (Moscow)
Vodyaev, Alexei, builder (Ryazan)
Vodyaeva, Svetlana, housewife (Ryazan)
Bulayev, Nikolai, manager (Ryazan)
Sereda, Yury, news editor for Human Rights in Russia portal (Ryazan)
Sakbayeva, Olga, philologist and school teacher
Sakbayev, Akhmetjan, postgraduate psychologist
Zozulina, Irina, mathematician and school teacher
Kapelnitsky, Sergei, physicist and scientific researcher
Mishchenko, Ilya, geologist & geophysicist (Moscow)
Vail, Boris, former political prisoner, 1957-65; internally banished, 1970-75 (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Bertseva, Yelena, research associate (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Proklov, Vlad, Russian citizen (London, UK)
Bogachev, Denis
Taubina, Natalie, Public Verdict foundation
Brainina, Nelli, lecturer in higher education (Moscow)
Likvintseva, Natalie, translator (Moscow)
Latypov, Robert, historian, deputy head of Youth Memorial (Perm)
Gusakov, Denis
Kosygin, Denis, mathematician (New York, USA)
Lashkevich, Mikhail, Techno-Physical Institute, Academy of Sciences (Moscow)
Rogachev, Mikhail, chair of Repentance, the Komi republic foundation for the victims of political repression
Yuganova, Maria, designer (Moscow)
Mordvinov, Dmitry, translator (Omsk)
Kitaichik, Maria, jurist (Moscow)
Davidis, Tatiana, member of Anti-War Club (Moscow)
Rozhdestvenskaya, Vladislava, student (Moscow)
Yeremeyev, Pavel, accountant (St Petersburg)
Belenkin, Boris, board member of international Memorial
Burd, Simeon, member of Moscow council of Yabloko
Kudryavtseva, Valeria, student (Moscow)
Kiselyova, Nadezhda, housewife (St Petersburg)
Kim, Natalie, journalist and editor
Polivanova, Alexandra, cultural section of Swedish embassy in Russia
Volov, Dmitry, jurist (Moscow)
Gudimov, Alexander, computer programmer (St Petersburg)
Davidis, Sergei, jurist (Moscow)
Kareva, Yelena, journalist and teacher (Krasnoyarsk)
Shtin, Alina, civil activist (Belgorod)
Gorelik, Olga, journalist (Moscow)
Dabagov, Temir, student of La Sapienza University (Rome, Italy)
Dambayev, Sergei, university lecturer and coordinator of Buryat republic division of the United Civil Front (Ulan-Ude)
Sheveleva, Julia, financial manager (Moscow)
Morozova, Yekaterina, sound operator (Moscow)
Bezrukov, Anatoly

By 5 pm (Moscow Time) on 21 March, the number of signatures from different parts of Russia, and from other countries near and far, exceeded three hundred.
The link is aleksanyan08@yandex.ru .