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Translation of the article into English was done by our volunteers.

Translation of the article into English was done by our volunteers.

At the end of March 2024, the mathematician and anarchist Azat Miftakhov was sentenced to four years of imprisonment in a criminal case for “justifying terrorism”. Miftakhov pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. The case itself emerged after a prisoner, whom the anarchist considered a close friend in the colony, testified against the mathematician. The defence and Azat himself have repeatedly stated that the case is fabricated.

On April 25, 2024, the 1st District Military Court in a visiting session in Chita sentenced the antifascist Alexander Snezhkov to 6 years, and the antifascist Lyubov Lizunova to 3.5 years in prison. Snezhkov was found guilty under the article on vandalism motivated by political hostility because of a graffiti "Death to the regime". Both were convicted under articles on calls to extremism and terrorism. 

The Solidarity zone team learned that Rouslan Sidiki had been tortured after his detention almost as soon as the independent lawyer began work. However, it was important to obtain documentary evidence of the mutilation that was observed when he entered the SIZO (pre-trial detention centre). Now, some months later, his lawyer Igor Popovsky has now managed obtain that document.

For this year’s International Anarchist Prisoner Solidarity Week, Freedom interviewed the Anarchist Black Cross-Moscow to discuss their long history in Russia supporting imprisoned Russian anarchists, the challenges they face under Putin’s regime and their work during the war on Ukraine.

According to Solidarity Zone, the lawyer Igor Popovsky visited Ruslan Siddiqui in the Moscow detention centre SIZO-5 and received a confirmation from him that the report by TASS about the anarchist's desire to go to fight on the side of the Russian Federation was a lie.

The anarchist Ruslan Siddiqui is accused of attacking the Dyagilevo military aerodrome, using quadcopters, and of damaging railway lines (in Ryazan region) that were used to transport military equipment and fuel to the Russian army in Ukraine.

Anti-War Human Rights Initiative Solidarity zone launching a fundraiser to pay for the next six months’ work by Ruslan’s lawyer. For six months’ legal work we need to raise €4290.

On May 25 we invite you to the 'Solidarity zone' event in Leipzig (13.00, gallery Jochen Hempel, Spinnereistraße 7) in support of political prisoners in Russia. It will be held in the framework of the exhibition 'freedom is a verb' by Alla Gutnikova.

Facebook event

Yuri Mikheev is an anti-fascist from Lobnya, just outside Moscow. On 10 November 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 fire to military equipment. A case was initiated under criminal articles regarding "preparation for sabotage". Yura faces up to 10 years.

An evening of solidarity with veg prisoners from Russia  will take place on May 3 at 18.00 in Helsinki (Ulrika, Leppäsuonkatu 11).

Facebook event

Late last year, opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who had been sentenced to 19 years in prison for a number of trumped-up cases, was sent to a special regime penal colony in the settlement of Kharp in the Far North, one of the most hard-to-reach colonies. This region colonies are famous for its harsh regime and torture of prisoners.

Translation from the site freedomnews.org.uk. Original in Russian here.

~ NinaT

The compilation of music in support of prisoners. In 2022, punks and anti-fascists from Siberia and the Urals were tortured by police to fabricate a case. They are accused of terrorism, but they did not use any violence. Confessions were extracted with torture of electric shocks, strangulation with a bag, beatings and threats of rape with a mop. Antifascists face huge prison sentences

Six anarchists from Russia have been held in pre-trial detention for a year on spurious charges of creating a "terrorist community". According to Russian law, our comrades face a total of 5 to 15 years of imprisonment for the charged articles, and 15 to 30 years of life imprisonment for organizing or leading a "terrorist community". The main proof of guilt is a confession given under torture.

The last day of the fundraising campaign for Tyumen case is January 1st. Unless goal is reached, none of the money is delivered for our comrades.

The anarchist Ruslan Siddiqui is accused of causing an explosion, on a railway used to transport military equipment and fuel to the Russian army in Ukraine. The result was the derailment of 19 carriages of a goods train in the Ryazan region. There were no casualties, although the driver’s assistant sustained non-serious injuries. Russian Railways assessed the damage at €300.000. Ruslan has been charged with committing a terrorist act, and possession of explosive material.

Danil is a convinced anti-fascist from Yekaterinburg, a loving husband and devoted friend, the soul of any company. He is one of the best veterinarians in Yekaterinburg, specializing as an orthopedic surgeon. Before his arrest, he worked in two veterinary clinics. Being a leading specialist in veterinary surgery, he constantly attended scientific conferences, improved his qualifications in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and mastered modern technologies in surgery and endoscopy. Danil trained veterinary specialists in Surgut.

Anarchist Ruslan Siddiqui, accused of rail line disruption and drone attack on a military airport in Ryazan Oblast, was transferred from SIZO “Kapotnya” at the outskirts of Moscow to “Matrosskaya Tishina”. As the antiwar human rights initiative “Solidarity zone” writes, Siddiqui himself informed a friend in a letter about the transfer.

New address for letters and parcels:

Recently, the defendants in the «Tyumen case» have received the final version of the charges. According to the support group, in letters to relatives and friends they write that the investigation committee has added two further offenses to the «terrorism» charge:

• «the illicit manufacture of explosives as part of an organized criminal group» (part 3 of article 223.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), which envisages between fifteen and twenty years of deprivation of liberty

Yura is an antifascist and opponent of authoritarianism from Yekaterinburg, detained on August 31, 2022.

He is engaged in Thai boxing and studies computer technologies of graphic design. Yura is a talented freelance designer, recently he has been doing 3D modeling and drawing models for games and cartoons.