"Committee against Torture" is left among the foreign agents and can be liquidated

July 8 the panel of judges of the regional court in Nizhny Novgorod (Russia) dismissed the appeal of the human rights organization "Committee against Torture" and upheld the decision of the Sovetsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod, which upheld the prosecutor of Nizhny Novgorod Region Oleg Panasenko.

"The Committee against Torture" was included in the register of foreign agents on January 16. Chairman of "CAT" Igor Kalyapin said the organization intends to file a cassation appeal against the court verdict. However, he believes that the court would issue its verdict not earlier than the organization would be liquidated.

During the hearings, the parties again stated their positions, which remained unchanged. The lawyer of the "Committee against Torture" Dmitry Kazakov stressed that the organization was aimed solely at promoting the implementation of the state public policies rather than changing them.

Chairman of the Committee against Torture Igor Kalyapin stressed that the Committee had always and everywhere stated its commitment to struggling against the practice of torture which persisted in Russia, being contrary to the Constitution, federal laws and the internal regulations.

The Committee against Torture was established by human rights activists in Nizhny Novgorod in 2000. The organization, in addition to activities in Russia, represents the interests of Russians in the European Court of Human Rights. A group of human rights activists acted under the auspices of CAT in Chechnya. In December 2014 its office was burnt and in June it was destroyed once again.