Ivan Kudryashov’s life is in danger. What can we do?
Submitted by Редакция on 10 July, 2023 - 20:53Ivan Kudryashov is an anti-war activist who made a street art piece in the center of Tver with the text “Fuck the War.” In September 2022, he was detained by the Federal Security Service. FSB officers planted Molotov cocktails in Ivan’s apartment and tortured the activist in an attempt to pressurize him to confess to preparing the arson of a military enlistment office.
Even though the charges were obviously trumped-up, on June 20, Ivan was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.
Ivan Kudryashov is currently being held in the Detention Center No. 1 in Tver. He decided to go on a hunger strike because the detention center administration had been violating his rights and he had not been allowed to talk to the warden.
The warden Alexey Kudryashov ignored the request for personal appointment Ivan had filed, thereby violating the law. After 10 days—a standard period for considering a request established by law — Ivan Kudryashov began a hunger strike.
What does Ivan Kudryashov demand?
Apart from a personal appointment with the warden, the political prisoner demands that the detention center administration:
- provide him with food not containing animal products since he does not eat them for ethical reasons,
- give him the vitamin supplements that were sent to him,
- give him the plant protein powder that was sent to him,
- give him the books that were sent to him,
- abolish the arbitrary prohibition to leave the cell in shorts.
The administration of the Detention Center No. 1 in Tver ignore the demands of Ivan Kudryashov, and his appeals to supervisory authorities never reach the addressees because of the administration. For example, the warden Alexey Kudryashov tore up Ivan’s appeal to the prosecutor’s office right in front of him.
July 7th was the 30th day of Ivan’s hunger strike, and his life is in danger.
Anti-war human rights initiative Solidarity Zone urge the media and bloggers to cover as much as possible the arbitrariness of the administration of the Detention Center No. 1 in Tver that made Ivan Kudryashov starve (Solidarity Zone can provide more information upon request).
Solidarity Zone ask human rights organizations and the media to use the tools at their disposal to influence the situation. So far, Ivan Kudryashov has not been visited by the prosecutor, officials from the Public Monitoring Commission, or the Commissioner for Human Rights in Tver Oblast.
Let the arbitrariness of the administration of the Detention Center No. 1 in Tver and its warden Alexey Kudryashov not go unnoticed, and the life of political prisoner Ivan Kudryashov will be saved!
Solidarity is our strength!