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Mark Sirők (sometimes transliterated from Russian into Mark Siryk, or alternatively Mark Sirök or Mark Sirõk; see also ő) is a human rights activist and anti-racism campaigner in Estonia. He is a member of Nashi, an anti-racism youth movement that supports the policies of Vladimir Putin in Russia.
Sirők was arrested by the Estonian police for participation in riots in Tallinn that left 150 people injured in April 2007. He was organising the "guard" near the Bronze Soldier, monument in Tallinn honouring those who lost their lives liberating Estonia from the Nazis, and which Estonian neo-Nazis have demanded be torn down. Sirők was paying volunteers 80 Estonian Kroons per hour to defend the monument. The right-wing Estonian press alleged that this small sum of money was received from Russia.
State prosecutors accused Sirők of planning the Bronze Soldier riots in Tallinn with the support of the Kremlin since 2006. However, in January 2008 he was found innocent as he had been at home studying for his school exams.
His arrest was condemned by International Federation of Human Rights and other human rights organisations as evidence of a wider campaign of discrimination against Estonia's Russophone population.
Although supportive of Vladimir Putin, Sirők has said he supports the constitution of Estonia and is not anti-Estonian, only anti-racist and anti-fascist, and has called for the protection of Estonian speakers' rights as well as Russian speakers.
References
- USA Today
- Kuimet, Peeter (2007-04-26). ww.postimees.ee/310807/esileht/siseuudised/257263.php "Vene noori palgatakse Tõnismäele valvama". Postimees (in Estonian). ExpressMeedia. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
{{cite news}}: Check|url=value (help) - Berendson, Risto (2007-10-19). "Aprillirahutusi suunas raha ja nõuga Venemaa". Postimees (in Estonian). EkspressMeedia. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
- Channel 4
- Channel 4
- FIDH
- ekspress.ee
See also
- Bronze Night
- Human rights
- Dmitri Linter
- Maksim Reva
- Dmitri Klenski
- Discrimination of ethnic minorities in Estonia