Russia’s Presidential Human Rights Council says this jailed district official outside Moscow needs to be hospitalized

Russia’s Presidential Human Rights Council is asking the Federal Penitentiary Service to hospitalize Alexander Shestun, the jailed head of the Moscow region’s Serpukhov district. On June 14, police arrested Shestun on charges that his business illegally acquired 10 hectares (about 25 acres) of local land from the state in 2010.

• In April, Shestun addressed a video to Vladimir Putin, claiming that Governor Andrey Vorobyov was threatening to confiscate his home and put him in prison, if he didn’t resign. Vorobyov supposedly wants him out because Shestun opposes the transformation of the Serpukhovsky district into a municipal precinct and he objects to further waste shipments from the city to Serpukhov’s over-capacity “Lesnaya” landfill.
• Despite being in jail, Shestun hoped to seek re-election in next month’s race, but regional officials refused to register his candidacy, citing technicalities. His wife will run in his place, instead.