Eva Merkacheva vouched for Ryazan editor Konstantin Smirnov and asked for his release under house arrest.

Member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights Eva Mercacheva sent a guarantee on behalf of the editor-in-chief of "View from the Side" Konstantin Smirnov, who has been in a Ryazan pretrial detention center for over a year. Merkacheva asked the court to change Smirnov's pretrial detention.

"I believe that pretrial detention is an excessive measure that can only be applied to those who have committed violent and particularly serious crimes. This is inconsistent with the charges against journalist Smirnov."- says in the letter.

Merkacheva vouched for Smirnov: "He will not abscond from justice at the appointed time, will appear in court, and will not otherwise obstruct the legal proceedings."

She already asked for Smirnov earlier, but they didn't listen to her. They made the same request to the court. Grigory Yavlinsky, chairman of Yabloko Nikolay Rybakov, representatives of public communities, 20 journalists.

Smirnova accuse of extorting money from the head of the Capital Repairs Fund. Previously, as a Yabloko deputy of the Dubrovichi rural settlement, he had spoken out against municipal reform, and residents of rural settlements in the Ryazan district supported the it.

Photo: "Side view"