A regulation prohibiting the “discrediting the Russian Armed Forces” has been in power for a bit of greater than a month now. Since then, courts throughout Russia have investigated greater than 300 allegations. Criminal prosecutions have been introduced in at the least 21 instances. In some situations, the defendants had boisterously known as for peace and an finish to the bloodshed in Ukraine, in others they held silent protests in opposition to the battle.
“There is a police station that I always pass on my way to and from work. I have been doing so for the last year-and-a-half and no police officer has ever taken any notice of me. That was also the case for a month after I tied a green ribbon on my backpack,” says Alexei from Kazan, whose title has been modified at his request.
‘Symbol of an illegal protest’
Activists have been holding peace protests in numerous cities throughout Russia for the reason that invasion of Ukraine. They show inexperienced ribbons in public squares, or put on them as an indication of silent protest in opposition to the battle. Alexei was arrested within the heart of Kazan, the capital of the semi-autonomous Russian Republic of Tatarstan. He says the inexperienced ribbon on his backpack was initially an indication of help for the struggle in opposition to kidney most cancers. But Alexei doesn’t dispute that he was additionally exhibiting solidarity with opponents of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“At the police station I witnessed a very interesting situation. The department head kept on calling someone to find out what I should be charged with. First, one report was drafted, then a second, and ultimately, everything was rewritten,” Alexei remembers. Finally, he was accused of undermining belief within the Russian Armed Forces “in the presence of citizens.” According to the report, Alexei was carrying a black backpack with a inexperienced ribbon — an unlawful protest image.
More and extra road arrests
A couple of days in the past, Azat Sabirov and Irina Badertdinova have been detained in Kazan. They had swapped grocery store worth tags for anti-war slogans. For instance, worth tags on one shelf for espresso out of the blue learn: “The Russian army has bombarded the art school in in Mariupol. Some 400 people were trying to shelter from gunfire there.” Both are actually additionally accused of “undermining trust in the Russian Armed Forces.” But neither their case, nor Alexei’s has been dropped at trial but.
In the meantime, folks in Kazan have been reporting increasingly detentions on the streets over the previous few days. One citizen, who needs to stay nameless, says he was stopped as a result of he was sporting a blue scarf and a yellow jacket — the colours of the Ukrainian flag. Another reported that she was arrested as a result of she had put up anti-war flyers in public bathrooms. Another man nonetheless, says he was detained as a result of he was carrying a bouquet of dried blue and yellow flowers.
“When the war began, I attended a vigil. Two police officers came up to me and we had a conversation. We didn’t share the same opinion but they did not try to convince me,” based on one other man, who provides: “When I ended up at the police station a few weeks later, there was no more talk. They wrote a report and were pleased that they were going to get a special arrest bonus.” He says not one of the law enforcement officials used the phrase “war,” however simply talked in regards to the Russian military’s “special operation” in Ukraine.
Raids and trials
Before the arrests began in Kazan, raids have been carried out on the properties of journalists, activists and college students. There have been three totally different waves on March 6, 17, and 25. Many of these affected complain they have been the victims of police violence.
“During the raids there were dreadful insults, humiliation, threats and beatings to my head and back. I was put in handcuffs and forced to kneel for three or four hours. They threatened to strip my 69-year-old mother naked if I did not tell them where my cellphone was,” wrote activist Andrei Boyarshinov, who additionally lives in Kazan. He handed his report back to journalists; DW has attained a replica. Boyarshinov, who’s now being held in custody in a jail, is accused by authorities of getting publicly known as for terrorist acts. He rejects the allegations.
Three different Kazan residents, Marina Ionova, Timur Tuchvatullin and Ruslan Terentyev, are accused by authorities of getting organized mass unrest after the raids. The allegation is predicated on a put up on the Telegram messaging app channel utilized by the protest motion in Kazan. In it, a consumer nicknamed Mickey Mouse had known as for violence on the protests. The put up has disappeared within the meantime. The activists haven’t been detained as of but and their attorneys say the allegations are trumped up. “I cannot say whether all these posts and articles are real. I have only seen one screen shot but it is unclear where it came from,” says Ruslan Ignatyev, a lawyer representing Timur Tuchvatullin.
The purpose: to silence folks
People residing in different Russian areas — from Kaliningrad to Magadan — have comparable tales to inform. Anti-war flyers, graffiti, clothes within the colours of the Ukrainian flag all discredit the Russian Armed Forces, based on police and judges.
“Such persecution is really happening en masse. People who criticize the military deployment more often and more loudly than others are implicated in different ways in ongoing proceedings. All of that, of course, is simply intended to intimidate. The authorities believe they can silence people with raids and criminal prosecutions,” says human rights lawyer Elsa Nizanbekova.
In most instances, folks discovered responsible of “discrediting the operation of the Russian Armed Forces” are merely fined. But anybody discovered to have dedicated anti-war “crimes” once more inside a yr of paying their advantageous can count on to face jail.
This article was initially written in Russian
