Rights group left with crushed computer after eviction from Moscow office – head

(Interfax – MOSCOW. June 24, 2013) Police and private security guards crushed a computer in evicting Russia’s For Human Rights group from its Moscow headquarters early on Saturday, according to the organization’s leader.

For Human Rights, one of Russia’s oldest and largest rights groups, was thrown out of its office in the city center in a predawn raid because of the alleged expiration of a lease contract.

“My computer is destroyed. My computer and my desk had OMON (riot police) walk on it with their jackboots. The data can’t be restored,” Lev Ponomaryov told Interfax after returning to the office in central Moscow on Monday.

“Some small things have disappeared. Some bag with documents. We’ve basically found everything else, including the most valuable documents,” Ponomaryov said.

“The room that was ravaged during the storming raid looks terrible. I called the police. They said a team of investigators would come. They never came, though. We’ve written a crime report and will take it to the police,” he said.

He expressed skepticism about an internal investigation the Moscow police authority had promised to carry out.

“My entire experience tells me that this can’t be trusted. But I live in this country, I haven’t gone away, my job is human rights, and I’m ready to take that investigation seriously. Let’s see what it leads to,” he said.