Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January-June 2007 proceedings were instigated against Manana Azlamazian under Article 188, part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code (contraband) for allegedly unlawfully financing NGOs. In April, police from the Department for Economic Crime searched the organization’s office and confiscated computers, training equipment and files while the accounts of the organization were closed. In connection with this the organization was forced to close its offices as staff and students were unable to continue their work without the necessary equipment and documents. Internews, which had been operating in Russia for about 10 years, had conducted training for journalists and had produced independent media material for further distribution in Russia. Russian human rights activists and journalists considered that the authorities response to Manana Azlamazian’s failure to comply with the law had been exceptionally harsh, and are concerned that she was targeted for her work for the independence of the media. Attack on Mari activist Galina Kozlova (update to AI Index EUR 01/012/2005) Galina Kozlova, an activist for the protection of the Mari language (which belongs to the family of Finno-Ugric languages) and culture from the Republic of Mari El, was attacked on 25 January on her way home by an unknown man, who sprayed what she believes to be teargas in her face, kicked her and beat her. When she fell to the ground he dragged her along the icy street for several metres. According to Galina Kozlova, the man did not attempt to take her bag or any of her possessions. She was hospitalized for 11 days, only returning to work in March. Galina Kozlova was concerned that the attack may have been linked to her work for the Mari culture as this was not the first attack on Mari activists in similar circumstances. The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 15 March, calling on the authorities to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice and ensure respect for freedom of expression. Her husband, Vladimir Kozlov, Amnesty International 95 had been beaten up in a similar attack in February 2005. At the time of writing, no one had been brought to justice for the attacks. Harassment and persecution of NGOs in Novorossiisk On 23 January members of the NGOs Novorossiiskii Human Rights Committee and FRODO in Novorossiisk, Krasnodar Region, held a meeting with two foreign visitors in a public art school in Novorossiisk, where the group was discussing a project on tolerance among youth. The meeting was broken up by a group of police officers, staff from the Federal Migration Service (FMS) and the Federal Security Service (FSB). The participants were separated and most of them were questioned by the law enforcement officials without being given an official reason and without the presence of a lawyer. Vadim Karastelev, a member of both NGOs, was accused of holding an unsanctioned meeting and charged with violations of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (violations of the regulations for organizing and holding meetings, demonstrations and vigils) and was ordered to pay a fine. Following an appeal against his sentencing, a regional court reduced the fine for Vadim Karastelev. Racism Racially motivated attacks continued. The Sova Information-Analytical Centre, an NGO, reported that between January and May, 32 people had been killed and 215 people had been injured as a result of attacks motivated by xenophobia or extremist ideologies. The victims were members of ethnic minorities or foreigners living in Russia, or anti-racism activists or sympathisers. The number of attacks recorded by Sova was an increase on the same period in 2006. Sova also recorded an increase in the number of prosecutions for racially-motivated crimes, although it was disproportionately low in comparison to the AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007