21.05.2006 Pressure the soldier

Less than a month remains until demobilization of our countryman who is serving in Dagestan, Evgenii Simonov who announced about bullying in his unit last year in July. Since then lasts investigation of criminal cases and legal proceedings according to the cases of assault, humiliation, threatening E.Simonov by his colleagues and inactivity of unit’s commanders. For Evgenii’s defense had arrived in Kaspiisk his aunt Tatjana Alekseevna Simonova. Owing to her determination, public pressure the soldier has been taken across in other unit. A day or two ago our organization received a disturbing letter from Dagestan in which is written that professional soldiers are threatening Simonov. They had made a written statement to the company commander with demand of taking E.Simonov across in the company. “We’ll show you how to serve the remaining 20 days. We’ll make you such life that you won’t forget it and if you manage to remain safe we won’t let you leave the unit. You has given away all the marines’ brigade and now you will pay for this” - claim new colleagues. Taking into consideration mutual responsibility in the army, unwillingness to wash their dirty linen in public, retardation of proceedings and difficulties with collecting evidences of quilt all these threats can be expressed in violent acts against our countryman. According to information from Moscow human rights activists Simonov’s case is under control of authorized on the human rights in the Russian Federation and will be brought again to judge advocate’s attention. But it is cold comfort for those who known the real scale of crimes in army and punishments for them.