"Putin is a flawless dictator, Mrs Merkel" – Society for Threatened Peoples points out the intolerable human rights situation in Chechnya and Russia

On occasion of the opening of the Hannover Fair this Sunday, the Society for Threatened Peoples will express criticism against the Russian president with banners reading "Putin is a flawless dictator, Mrs. Merkel!", "Don't forget the 80,000 dead – Putin's genocide in Chechnya!" or "No weapons for Syria, Putin!".

The STP – supported by Russian human rights activists and Chechen citizens – will demonstrate on

Sunday, April 7, 2013 – starting at 3:30 pm

Theodor-Heuss-Platz 1 in Hannover

opposite the main entrance of the Hannover Congress Centrum HCC

"There are unmistakable signs that a European country is turning into a dictatorship in the 21st century – lead by Vladimir Putin," says the STP's expert on the CIS states, Sarah Reinke. "As German foundations in Russia had to experience first-hand too, Putin managed to enforce an extensive series of new policies to cut down civil and human rights since his re-inauguration in May 2012."

The STP recalls that Putin is not only responsible for the deaths of 80,000 people during the war in Chechnya from 1999 to 2003 – it is also to be pointed out that the situation in Chechnya has not become peaceful again since. On the contrary: Ramzan Kadyrov, who was appointed by President Putin, has established a reign of terror that tramples on civil rights.

In addition, the Russian government is trying to take sides with the authoritarian regime in Syria by providing weapons for the army and by blocking any peace initiative within the International Community.

The STP sends an appeal to German Chancellor Angela Merkel to try and use every meeting with the Russian president – not only in Hannover – to demand respect for the civil and human rights in Russia. This is not only expected by the vast majority of the German public, but also by the Russian civil society. Criticism from Germany is taken into account carefully and can make a difference, despite all doubts.