Statement by Professor Mikhail Savva

Dear Friends, 

The indictment in the criminal case that has been fabricated against me has been confirmed by the prosecutor of Krasodar region, L.G. Korzhinek, and forwarded to the court. 

Dear Friends, 

The indictment in the criminal case that has been fabricated against me has been confirmed by the prosecutor of Krasodar region, L.G. Korzhinek, and forwarded to the court. 

Now I am able, based on the materials of the case, to show that it was unlawfully ‘constructed’. I am accused of embezzling 266,000 roubles from a grant provided by the administration of Krasnodar region to conduct research into the ‘potential for socialization of migrants in Krasnodar region.’ But at the same time, this research was conducted, a fact that no one denies! It was conducted in a timely manner, as the report on the research shows. 

The charge of theft is founded exclusively on evidence given by the head of the organization that conducted the research ,on the basis of a contract with Southern Regional Resource Centre. 

In order to obtain evidence that I had received money, this woman was thrown behind bars in Remand Centre No. 5. The first testimony she gave was correct: there had been no fraud. But by threatening her with being questioned not with the status of a witness but as a suspect, they broke her will and forced her to testify against me. On the next day she was released on bail. This is all the evidence there is of my alleged guilt in the case file. This woman refused to meet me face to face on the grounds that I was continuing to exert psychological pressure against her. It’s an interesting question to ask, how I could exert psychological pressure on her from within the walls of Remand Centre No. 5?! 

So far as the charges that I stole approximately 70,000 roubles from Kuban State University are concerned, I can only shake my head in disbelief. 

I am charged with having run a series of classes for 4th-course students on ‘communicating with the public’. These classes were conducted by another teacher on the orders of the head of faculty and without any request on my part. 

The previous year I had already refused to give these classes. Moreover, in the timetable from the very beginning the name of another teacher had been indicated. 

Before theses charges were brought against me, I saw my personal teaching plan included the given course, and I did not sign off on this plan. 

Despite the above, I have been kept behind bars for nearly six months now. 

I ask the Public Chamber of Russia, the Presidential Human Rights Council and other civil society and government bodies to do what they can to re-establish legality in my case. I consider my case to be a certain kind of ‘pilot project’. If those who have ordered, organized and carried this out succeed, then soon in Russia they will be able to throw any ‘undesirable’ individual into prison without the slightest grounds, charging them with crimes which do not exist. 

I thank everyone who has expressed, and continues to express, support for me. Your letters do not reach me, but I know of many of you. 

Mikhail Savva

Source: rightsinrussia.info