Drawing by the imprisoned anarchist Sergey Romanov
November 3, 2024
Anarchist Alexei Rozhkov is being charged under the article “terrorist act” for the arson of a military enlistment office in Berezovsky in March 2022, as well as for “justifying terrorism” and “spreading fakes” about the Russian army due to an interview he gave to “Khodorkovsky Live” while in Kyrgyzstan. At the end of May 2023, Rozhkov was illegally transported out of Kyrgyzstan, where he had previously fled, fearing the intensification of the charges. In total, Alexey could face up to 22.5 years of imprisonment.
At one of the court hearings, Lyudmila Reutova, a Russian language and literature teacher and the mother of Alexei’s classmate with whom he had previously lived for six months, testified. The brave woman did not hesitate to say that she knows Alexei as an intelligent, creative, and well-read young man, and also emphasized that he is an empathetic and kind person.
There is much to say about Alexei, but only good things <…> It pains me greatly to see Alexei in the dock. I consider Alexey my son. I am proud that fate brought me together with such a person. He is probably one of the best people I have ever met in my life.” Reutova does not consider Alexei to be a terrorist; she calls him a patriot: “Terrorism is when a plane flies into the Twin Towers and hundreds, thousands of people die. Terrorism is when people come to a concert, and they get shot in the chest. Terrorism is when a mother, with a child in her arms, brought her second child to the first grade, and everyone dies. But Alexey is not a terrorist. Alexei is not an enemy of our country. Alexei is not an enemy of our people <…> Patriotism is not just love for your land, not just for the territory where you live, for the place where you were born, it is love for your people. It is the readiness to sacrifice oneself, to give one’s life for the betterment of the people, for the freedom of the people. And in this regard, I believe that Alexei… he can be called a patriot.
The next court hearing in Alexei’s case is scheduled for November 20.
An 18-year-old antifascist, Yuri Mikheev, faces up to 10 years in prison. A year ago, on November 11, 2023, he and a friend were detained on the territory of a military unit in the Moscow region. The FSB accused the young men of planning to set military equipment on fire. The young men were charged under articles on “preparation for sabotage.” On October 9, the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow extended the detention of Yury Mikheyev and 20-year-old brothers Matvey and Timofey Melnikov in a pre-trial detention center for 1 month. At the hearing, it became known that a new case had been opened against the Melnikov brothers for “treason” (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and participation in a “terrorist organization” (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This is likely related to the fact that they confessed to carrying out a mission for the Free Russia Legion. The charge against Yuri Mikheev has not changed – “preparation for sabotage.”
On 17 October, the Basmanny Court of the capital extended the detention of the Russian-Italian anarchist Ruslan Sidiki in a pre-trial detention centre until 30 November – by that time, the anarchist will have been held in custody for a year.
Judge Boris Safarin also distinguished himself by closing the court hearing to the public and the press at the request of the investigator. Major Razgulyayev explained his request by the need to “ensure the safety of the participants in the proceedings.” He did not explain which participants he meant or who posed a threat to them, and Judge Safarin did not bother to investigate.
Apparently, also for the “safety of the participants in the process,” Ruslan Sidiki was once again brought into the courtroom in handcuffs.
Denis Shadrin is a bicycle mechanic and snowboarding instructor from Omsk. He was sentenced to 16 years in a strict regime prison for attempting to disrupt a weapons shipment to Ukraine; he must spend the first three years in prison.
Recently, a new criminal case was initiated against Shadrin for “inciting hatred or hostility,” so he was transferred from the Novosibirsk pre-trial detention center to the Omsk pre-trial detention center. From Denis’s letter:
I am a rebel, a radical in the common tongue, who has never believed in rallies, fair elections, or any kind of justice in this country. My comrade in misfortune, Vsevolod (referring to the political prisoner Vsevolod Kulikov), gave us an assessment that was both precise and concise: “We are machine-gun faces.” You couldn’t come up with a simpler definition.
Instead of a loudspeaker and placards with slogans, we prefer to hold torches and pitchforks in our hands, justice no longer burns within us, instead, fury rages in our hearts. I have no regrets, if I have to serve my full 16 years – well, that’s fine. However, I paid for my struggle with freedom, albeit ephemeral, and if this struggle stops, then I will die as a person, not in body but in soul. Well, to end this gloom on a positive note, I’ll use a line from DMB by Okhlobystin. “Continue the surveillance, we will contact you.”
A public defender has joined the “Tyumen case”
Today, during the substantive hearing, Danil Chertykov filed a motion to allow a public defender to join the case alongside his lawyer. The public defender was announced to be Alyona, Danil’s partner. All the lawyers and their clients supported the motion.
Judge Dmitry Vyacheslavovich Zhivaev asked numerous questions to the participants in the proceedings, after which the panel of judges retired to the deliberation room to make a decision.
Despite Alyona’s lack of legal education, the judges found the defense’s arguments convincing (or did not find a reason to refuse) and granted Danila Chertykov’s request.
On October 6, a short-term visit took place between Yuri Neznamov and his father’s wife, Veronika:
In the visitation room, I was there with two other moms. They are still doing renovations there, so there were no phones. We were shouting over each other because it was hard to hear the other person. And the guys also had to speak louder. By the end, we were already tired of shouting. Yura is still as handsome and well-groomed as ever. He still jokes the same way. He was mainly interested in family, so he asked us to tell him more about his sister, his dad, and his grandmother. He only asked us to send him a tracksuit – for going to court hearings. And a book in Spanish (he is studying Spanish in the detention center). He has no complaints. There have been cases where the letters he writes to us (and not just to us) were not sent from the detention center. But Yura said that he spoke with the head of SIZO-5, and now everything should be sorted out.
Four years have passed since the detention of the members of the Black Banner group. On the night of October 28 to 29, 2020, during an attempt to cross the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, anarcho-partisans were detained. All of October 2020, anarchists lived in Belarusian forests, conducting raids (https://t.me/a_partisans/266) against the accomplices of the dictatorial regime. After being detained and tortured by the Belarusian border service, and later by law enforcement agencies, the anarchists from the “Black Banner” group were taken to Minsk and placed in the KGB prison “Amerikanka.” In December 2021, the revolutionaries were put on trial, resulting in comrades receiving lengthy sentences of 18 to 20 years in a high-security regime. At that time, these were the longest political sentences in the history of modern Belarus.
Repressions do not cease even in places of detention. Igor Olenevich was transferred to a prison with a harsher regime, Dmitry Dubovsky was also transferred to a prison and already in custody received an additional five years for direct action in 2010. Dmitry Rezhanovich and Sergey Romanov (twice) were sentenced under Article 411 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus to 9 months and 2 years and 11 months, respectively. All anarchists are being maximally isolated from the outside world, constantly placed in solitary confinement and in special conditions, and put on professional registration. Communication with imprisoned comrades, which is very limited, is practically only available to relatives.
The transfer of Azat Miftakhov is complete, Azat has arrived at the prison in the city of Dimitrovgrad in the Ulyanovsk region.
The first impression of the regime is not the most pleasant. The main problem is that the detainees in this prison are deprived of access to stationery supplies for more than 3 hours a day. In the letter, he writes:
As I understand it, the rules here are a mix of SHIZO and PKT regulations. As in PKT, my food is given only during meal times, after which it is taken away. Like in PKT, books can be kept at all times. But at the same time, writing supplies are only issued for a very limited time: from 2 PM to 5 PM. As you can understand, for me this is extremely little. I don’t understand the public benefit of such a restriction. What are the prohibitors trying to achieve? So that a person leaves prison creatively undeveloped? (..) Or are they afraid that the person will enjoy being here if they are allowed to write with a pen on paper?
Since Azat spends a lot of time coming up with and solving various tasks on his own, this latest incomprehensible ban seems the most unpleasant. It also reduces the opportunities for writing response letters.
Nevertheless, you can now send them to him at the following address:
Miftakhov Azat Fanisovich, born in 1993
433513, Ulyanovsk Region, Dimitrovgrad, Kalugina St., 66, FKU T-1
The letter can be sent using the F-PISMO and ZT services.
Source: a2day