Russia Must Immediately Release Election Monitor Grigory Melkonyants: UN Special Rapporteur

GENEVA (22 May 2025) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova, today condemned the 12 May 2025 sentencing of Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the “Golos” movement which had been declared “foreign agent” in Russia.

Melkonyants was sentenced to five years in prison by the Basmanny Court of Moscow for his peaceful work defending electoral integrity and human rights in Russia.

“This sentence is a grave miscarriage of justice and a blatant attempt to silence one of Russia’s critical voices for electoral transparency. It is yet another example of the severe clampdown on civil society by Russian authorities in the past three years, since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022,” Mariana Katzarova said. “The charges are politically motivated and based on legally dubious grounds, including misrepresented evidence and disregard for the defendant’s rights.”

Melkonyants was convicted under article 284.1(3) of the Russian Criminal Code for allegedly organising the activities of an “undesirable” organisation – the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO). The court also imposed a nine-year ban on his participation in public activities following his prison term.

“Melkonyants’ case exemplifies the systematic targeting of civil society actors in Russia who dare to challenge the State’s control over the electoral process,” Katzarova said. “His arrest and conviction violate his rights to freedom of expression, association, and participation in public affairs, as protected under articles 19, 21, and 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023, just weeks before the start of the presidential campaign that led to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s re-election. The prosecution alleged ties between “Golos” and ENEMO, despite “Golos” publicly withdrawing membership in 2021 after ENEMO was labelled “undesirable.” His trial, which began in September 2024, was marred by procedural flaws, including reliance on outdated ENEMO website data linking “Golos” to a defunct organisation, and disregard for evidence of “Golos” formally leaving the network. Furthermore, Melkonyants’ participation in a roundtable at the Central Election Commission (CEC) – used as evidence against him – was at the official invitation of the CEC chair and in his capacity as an individual expert, not as a representative of any foreign organisation as claimed by the prosecution. “The prosecution failed to demonstrate that Melkonyants posed any risk to the investigation, yet he was held in pre-trial detention for over a year,” the expert said.

The Special Rapporteur expressed grave concern over the broader legal framework for Melkonyants’ prosecution, noting that laws on “foreign agents” and “undesirable” organisations criminalise international cooperation and civic engagement. She noted that the targeted “designations” of human rights organisations under these laws, continued. Most recently, on 19 May 2025, the authorities declared Amnesty International “undesirable” for, as they claimed, “backing Ukraine against Russia, promoting Russophobic narratives, and financing ‘extremists’ and ‘foreign agents’”.

“Melkonyants is being punished not for a crime, but for his steadfast commitment to human rights and safeguarding the principle of free and fair elections in Russia,” Katzarova said. “For over 20 years, “Golos” has advanced electoral transparency and reform in Russia,” she said. “Melkonyants must be released immediately with all charges against him dropped. The repressive laws under which he has been targeted must be repealed.”

The Special Rapporteur has earlier addressed the Government on this case.

Note:

*The expert: Mariana Katzarova, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation.

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