On December 6 2010, Aslan Cherkesov caused the death of a Spartak Moscow hooligan by firing his rubber bullet gun while defending himself against a group of attacking hooligans. Right after the incident, racist groups controlled by the government gathered under the motto “Russia for Russians” and committed more hate crimes against Caucasians. During this time, Caucasians faced a rise in physical violence, looting of their shops and murders.

While these assaults were taking place, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Yegor Svidirov’s grave, who was killed by Cherkesov during the hooligan’s attack. He declared his support for Russian nationalists by saying “Caucasians should respect Russian culture”.

During his trial, even though the case was based on an act of self-defense against ethnic rage, jurors declared that justice would not be served by saying “Cherkesov deserves no tolerance”. After the unfair trial, Cherkesov was sentenced to a disproportionate punishment of 23 years imprisonment.

Since his imprisonment, Cherkesov has been beaten and tortured many times. He has also not been allowed to contact his family.

Aslan Cherkesov’s mother, Sonia Cherkesov wrote a letter to Human Rights Organizations for help with her son’s conditions of isolation.

All of those incidents reflect the fact that public power in Russia is used for vengeance. The law is being used as a tool for governmental politics instead of working toward social peace. We all know that Aslan Cherkesov is not the only one who has been tortured in Russian prisons. There are many suffering Caucasians, Central Asians, opponents of Putin and Muslims; Cherkesov is but one of many.

We cannot ignore his mother’s cry for help.

Government supported racist acts are always taking place against Caucasians in Russia. All of these attacks and human rights violations taking place in prisons cause seeds of hate to spread, as they go against human honor. We are calling on human rights organizations in Russia and the world as well as the Russian people to take action against these violations!