International Community Concerned About Rights Of Mari People
09.03.05
 Some
20 political and cultural leaders from Finland, Estonia, the United States,
Great Britain, and Sweden signed an appeal "For Defense of the Marii People"
published in "Helsingin Sanomat" and "Eesti Pevaleht," Regnum reported
on 25 February.
Former Estonian President Lennart Meri and former Finnish parliament
speaker Riitta Uosukainen are among signatories who called for stopping
infringement on political and cultural rights of the Mari people in the
Republic of Marii-El.
The appeal condemned assaults on representatives of Mari democratic
opposition in the republic and demanded that the attackers of the editor
in chief of the international Finno-Ugric newspaper "Kudo+Kodu," Vladimir
Kozlov, (see article) be punished.
By 9 March, over 6,800 people from across the world had
signed the online appeal.
Source: RFE/RL
APPEAL
ON BEHALF OF THE MARI PEOPLE
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