The Russian Public Chamber called Wednesday on the Foreign Ministry in Moscow to defend the rights of a Russian writer and blogger detained earlier this month in Moldova on charges of instigating riots.
Eduard Bagirov was detained on June 16 on suspicion of organizing mass riots in Moldova on April 7, 2009, when a crowd of protesters forced their way into the parliament building and the presidential administration. A court has ruled that Bagirov should remain in custody before his trial.
The Public Chamber said in a letter that the writer "is being held in a Chisinau pretrial detention facility in conditions that do not comply with international standards."
"He is also subject to threats and pressure. We consider such treatment unacceptable," the letter reads.
The chamber called on the Foreign Ministry to "take all possible measures to defend the Russian national abroad."
In April 2009, protests initially led by the opposition after an allegedly fraudulent parliamentary election turned violent. Some 10,000 rioters, mainly students, hung Romanian flags above the presidential residence and parliament buildings. The unrest left several hundred protesters and police injured.
