Lyudmila Bogatenkova, head of the Budennovsk committee for the mothers of soldiers in Russia‘s Stavropol Territory who was detained on fraud charges on 17 October, has been released on bail, Russian news agency Interfax reported on 20 October at 12:58 Kyiv time.
Bogatenkova has been officially charged with fraud and placed under written obligation not to leave Budennovsk, the report said.
Bogatenkova, 73, was detained and placed in a remand centre after police searched her committee’s offices in Budennovsk. Human rights groups maintain that her detention is connected to her work in the organization.
“Lyudmila Bogatenkova has actively protected military servicemen for many years, uncovering incidents of inhuman treatment and the torture of soldiers serving a fixed period. Over the past several months, she has investigated the circumstances of the death of Russian servicemen in the July-August 2014 war,” reads a 17 October statement published on the website of the Mothers of soldiers of St Petersburg.
The Kavkazskiy Uzel website reported that there has not been any comment on the case from either the representatives of law enforcement or investigative agencies or the prosecutor’s office connected with the search of the committee’s offices.
