Human Rights

Prisoner of Conscience: Grigory Melkonyants

Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Golos, Russia's leading independent election monitoring organization, was arrested in August 2023 amid a broader crackdown on election observers ahead of the federal and local elections and the 2024 presidential campaign. His arrest coincided with police raids on the homes of other Golos activists.

Established in 2000, Golos has been at the forefront of election monitoring in Russia, exposing alleged voter fraud, including during Vladimir Putin's 2012 presidential victory. The organization has built a reputation for training election observers and advocating for electoral transparency and rights.

Melkonyants faces up to six years in prison on charges of "organizing the activities of an undesirable organization." Prosecutors allege he collaborated with the European Network of Election Observation Organisations, ENEMO, a Montenegro-based NGO receiving US funding. Melkonyants denies these accusations, stating that all contact with ENEMO ceased after Russia banned it as "undesirable" in 2021.

This is not the first time Russian authorities have targeted Golos and its leadership. In 2013, the organization was labelled a "foreign agent," a designation that imposed strict financial reporting requirements and limited its human rights work. Though its legal entity was dissolved three years later, Golos had continued to work as a movement.

"For over a year, Grigory Melkonyants has been arbitrarily deprived of his liberty. He is facing a politically-motivated prosecution for his role in upholding electoral transparency in Russia. His continued detention is an affront to justice and human rights," said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International's Eastern Europe and Central Asia deputy director, in November 2024.

Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have designated Melkonyants as a political prisoner and demand his immediate release.

As Krivosheev notes, "The case against Grigory Melkonyants reflects the broader trend of repression in Russia, where the authorities have increasingly targeted civil society organisations, journalists and activists under the pretence of upholding national security and preventing foreign interference."

Prisoners of Conscience

Prisoners of Conscience from East and Southeast Europe

We feature select few prisoners of conscience out of the many in East and Southeast Europe. One political prisoner is one too many. 

Find out who the other political prisoners are #PrisonersofConscience  #FreeThemAll and in the special Focus on our website.