Rights activists to work for judicial, penitentiary system reform in 2014 – Moscow Helsinki Group chair

MOSCOW. Jan 4 (Interfax) – Russian human rights activists will give priority to reforms of the judicial and penitentiary systems in 2014, Moscow Helsinki Group Chair Lyudmila Alexeyeva told Interfax.

“The absence of independent courts is our main problem. Another problem on which we need to work in 2014 is the situation in the penitentiary system,” she said.

“The improvement of the situation in these areas is a key goal not only for human rights activists but also for our entire society. How our economy will develop and whether there will be calmness and stability in our country depends on this,” she said.

“Another goal is opposing irregularities in elections. There have been fewer of them but they haven’t ended,” she said.