Case History: Maria Razumovskaya
On 19 February 2016, human rights defender Ms Maria Razumovskaya was summoned to report to the FSB office for questioning on 9 March 2016. On 14 February, two representatives of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) had appeared at her apartment in Saint Petersburg. They questioned her about the non-governmental organisation Citizens Watch and tried to take her for further questioning without an official summons.
Maria Razumovskaya is a deputy chairperson of human rights organisation Citizens Watch, established in 1992 in Saint Petersburg with the goal to assist in instituting parliamentary and civic control over the police, the security service, and armed forces, and to help prevent violations of the constitutional rights of people living in Russia by these governmental agencies.
On 1 March 2016, human rights defender Ms Elena Shakhova was questioned by representatives of the local office of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in Saint Petersburg over the work of the non-governmental organisation Citizens Watch. Her fellow human rights defender Ms Maria Razumovskaya has been summoned to report to the FSB office for questioning over the same subject on 9 March 2016.
Elena Shakhova is Chairperson of Citizens Watch, a human rights organisation in Saint Petersburg, where Maria Razumovskaya serves as Deputy Chairperson.
On 1 March 2016, Elena Shakhova reported to the local office of FSB in Saint Petersburg, where two officers questioned her about the work of Citizens Watch. The human rights defender was asked whether the organisation continues to receive foreign funding, how its grants contracts are concluded and with whom, whether the organisation is making attempts to have itself removed from the 'foreign agent' list, if it timely submits all the required reports about its activities and whether the organisation plans to monitor the elections of the Russian Parliament in 2016.
On 19 February 2016, a representative of FSB appeared at the office of Citizens Watch and handed a summons to Maria Razumovskaya and Elena Shakhova. The document did not provide reasons for the questioning. Both human rights defenders agreed with the FSB officer to appear at the department in early March.
On 14 February 2016, two representatives of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) appeared at the apartment of human rights defender Ms Maria Razumovskaya in Saint Petersburg.
The questioned her about the non-governmental organisation Citizens Watch and trying to take her for further questioning without an official summons.
On 14 February 2016, a district police officer who called Maria Razumovskaya several days earlier appeared at her apartment saying the complaint he had previously contacted her about, concerned another person. He was accompanied by two representatives of FSB in plain clothes, who presented their identity cards and explained to the human rights defender that they accompanied the police officer to have had a valid excuse to come. They asked Maria Razumovskaya to follow them for questioning. The human rights defender refused, as they failed to provide an official summons. The officers then started asking Maria Razumovskaya questions about Citizens Watch, in particular whether the organisation was a foreign agent, but she refused to respond. When the human rights defender called her lawyer, the FSB officers told her that soon she would be officially requested to come for questioning, and left.
On 10 February 2016, Maria Razumovskaya received a phone call from a district police officer who informed her that he had received a complaint from neighbours about noise in her apartment. The police officer asked Maria Razumovskaya to report to the police station, but she refused to do so, and suggested he come to her apartment instead to make sure it was a mistake.
