News

Yelena Gorban and Alexei Kobaidze, suspects in the vandalism case (Russian Criminal Code Article 214) opened after a protest outside a United Russia party office on January 31, have been sent to Temporary Detention Facility No. 1 (Petrovka) in Moscow, as reported to OVD Info by their defense lawyers, Svetlana Sidorkina and Maxim Pashkov.

“He Would Check My Pulse by Touching My Neck and Monitor My Condition.” Arrested Penza Antifascists Talk about Electric Shock Torture in Remand Prison Basement. 

A Statement by the Journalists’ and Media Workers’ Union

In the early hours of January 31st, Russian security services stormed the apartment of @Pavel Nikulin, a co-chair of the Journalists' and Media Workers' Union. We can assume that Pavel’s apartment was searched in connection with an article he wrote for the New Times magazine in March 2017. The article, titled “From Kaluga With Jihad," was removed from the magazine's website after a court found it was "publicly justifying terrorism."

“They Said They Could Break My Legs and Dump Me in the Woods.” Petersburger Ilya Kapustin Recounts How FSB Officers Tortured Him
Yegor Skovoroda
Mediazona
January 27, 2018

Traces of handcuffs on Ilya Kapustin’s hands. Photo courtesy of his attorney and Mediazona

Petersburg Anarchist Viktor Filinkov, Arrested in Terrorism Case, Says He Was Tortured
Mediazona
January 26, 2018

Antifascist Viktor Filinkov, arrested for alleged involvement in a terrorist network, has told members of the Public Monitoring Commission (PMC) he was tortured, according to the PMC’s report, which Mediazona has in its possession.

On January 23, antifascist Viktor Filinkov disappeared in Petersburg. He was found two days later: the press service of the Petersburg court system related Filinkov had been remanded to police custody after confessing his involvement in a terrorist network whose members “profess[ed] the anarchist ideology.” Members of the Public Monitoring Commission were able to visit him in the pretrial detention center a day later.

We are currently fundraising to pay the lawyers working on several cases related to the police raids and arrests of anarchists and antifascists in St. Petersburg and Penza, Russia. 

As of now, two people in St. Petersburg and five in Penza are under arrest, while many others have been connected to their cases as witnesses. The raids and repressions are likely to continue. 

The FSB Breaks Left

A second anarchist from the mythical organization Network (Set) has been remanded to police custody at the request of counterintelligence. Viktor Filinkov and Igor Shiskin are suspected of planning an armed insurrection to seize power

Alexander Yermakov
Fontanka.ru
January 27, 2018

On January 23 antifascists Viktor Filinkov was kidnapped at the airport in St. Petersburg and was found two days later in a special detention facility of FSB (Russian Federal Security Service). He claimed to have been tortured by masked police and forced to give evidence in a terrorist case against himself.

On January 25 another activist, Igor Shishkin, was detained while walking a dog. His house was searched, as his wife said to OVD-Info.

Last Bolotnaya Square Defendant Flees Russia
RBC
November 9, 2017

In an interview with Current Time TV, Bolotnaya Square defendant Dmitry Buchenkov said he has left Russia for a European Union country.

He said he has applied for political asylum in this country. Buchenkov failed to say exactly where he had gone.

Various initiatives and activists from post-soviet countries and the rest of Europe will be part of this event sharing stories and reports on the situation in their regions. There are plenty of reasons for exchanging perspectives: an increase in repression and a new round of political confrontations are accelerating certain historical processes, not giving us a chance to catch our breath.

October 11, the city court of Baranovichi, Belarus, sentenced Russian anarchist Pyotr Ryabov. Petr, an anarchist philosopher and a lecturer of the department of Philosophy in the Moscow State Pedagogical University was sentenced to 6 days of prison for "minor hooliganism" and "distribution of extremist materials" (statutes 17.1 and 17.11 of the Codex of misdemeanors of Belarus). The court  has declared the Belarusian anarchist journal "Svoboda ili Smert issue 6" (published in 2007) an extremist material.

March 25 was planned by some liberal opposition leaders as the day of the biggest protest against Lukashenko’s policies this year. The biggest one on the wave of the recent anti-governmental demonstrations that started in February this year. It ended with the biggest police mobilization in years bringing thousands of riot cops to Minsk and detaining hundreds of people preventive and during the demonstration. This Saturday capital of Belarus looked like a war zone created by the police.

Today in three major cities of Belarus – Minsk, Mogilev and Grodno – people took the streets protesting against government attempts to collect tax off the unemployed (details of the story HERE). In Minsk, demonstrations managed to gather more that 1 500 people, in Mogilev and Grodno 1 000 each. These are the biggest protests those cities have seen in decades.

The Russian authorities continue to prosecute and jail our comrades. In the summer and fall of 2016, demonstrations of solidarity with the convicts were held all across the globe. The anarchists are furthermore suffering repressions in jails, but keep the spirit up. If you think that we have missed something important in our article or are aware of other repressions, feel free tocontact us at abc-msk@riseup.net  

Free at last  

12th of February 2017, Mannerheimintie 5 B 7th floor.

Food served 4PM, lecture 4:30 PM

Alexei Gaskarov: Many People Ask Whether I Am Going to Take up Politics. But What Politics Are There Nowadays?

Olesya Gerasimenko
Snob
November 1, 2016

"Avtonom" magazine is the most well-known and fancy anarchist paper of the exUSSR, published since year 1995. Now, the next, 37th issue is ready to be published. It will tell you:

• how the state is destroying education system;

• about sweatshop exploitation in "Magnit" chain stores;

• who profits on Syria war;

• what are the impressions about the Donbass war for an anarchist from Kiev and for a communist from Luhansk region;

• about feminism in Muslim countries;

According to still not fully confirmed information the Nazist Finnish Resistance Movement (Suomen Vastarintaliike, SVL) killed a bypasser during their street event on the 10th of September, near Helsinki Railway Station. The next day SVL published on their website a picture and a video featuring the person they assaulted, along with a text glorifying their violence. According to the victim’s family, the young man that SVL assaulted died in hospital last night, September 16th at 10 PM, from the serious injuries he received.

Elena Nadezhkina took part in different animal defence-, eco- and social actions, international solidarity actions and many others. Until 2009 she volunteered for several years: rescued dogs and cats and found homes for them.  Moreover, Elena participated in ecological projects: campaign against deforestation, campaign for political prisoners of the Khimki forest defence and other social actions.