13 March 2021
OVD-Info is a Moscow-based NGO that monitors politically-motivated arrests and prosecutions in Russia. Each week OVD-Info publishes a bulletin with the latest news, which is translated here. To receive the mailing in Russian, visit here.
Hi! Once again, we’re not sure where Navalny is; the people who were convicted in the New Greatness convicts are being transferred out of remand centres; and the investigation into terrorism in Minecraft rumbles on.
Navalny transferred out of jail in Vladimir Region. Aleksey Navalny is on the road again. This time, he has been transferred out of Jail Number 3 in the town of Kolchugino. Initially, last week’s public holiday was used as a pretext for denying the politician’s lawyers access to him in his cell, but the jail officers later admitted that Navalny had simply been transferred elsewhere. It later emerged that he has most likely been moved to Penal Colony Number 2 in Pokrov, a so-called “red” prison, where all discipline is strictly in the hands of the guards, and prisoners have no recourse if they are mistreated.
New Greatness convicts moved into prison. Petr Karamzin, Vyacheslav Kriukov and Ruslan Kostylenkov, who were all convicted in the New Greatness case, have also been transferred out of jail, although theirs was in Moscow. All three were found quickly: Karamzin in a prison in Belgorod, Kriukov in Rostov-on-Don, and Kostylenkov in Yaroslavl. Kriukov, Karamzin and Kostylenkov were given prison sentences of six years, six years and three months, and six years and seven months respectively, for organising the activities of an extremist group.
Teenagers from Kansk facing fresh criminal charges. We had barely had a chance to celebrate the dropping of terrorism charges against teenagers from Kansk, when more bad news arrived. The previous charges against the teenagers have been replaced by several counts of two new charges: manufacturing and possession of explosives. In addition to this, the investigation still maintains that the teenagers were involved in crimes under article 205.3 of the Criminal Code (undergoing training on terrorist activity). The reason for these charges? The boys in question were discussing blowing up the FSB building in a game of Minecraft.
Features
The informant, the artist and the prison van. Artist and activist Katrin Nenasheva was arrested in St Petersburg on 8th March, as a result of her denouncing homophobe and professional informant Timur Bulatov. Katrin was held for several hours in freezing cold police vans, after which her fingerprints were taken and she was released. Katrin has told her story to OVD-Info.
Justice after 7 years. In early 2014, over a thousand people were arrested at protests in Moscow. Many years later, the European Court of Human Rights has finally ruled against the decision of the Russian courts and ordered them to pay compensation. The appeal process was orchestrated by lawyers from OVD-Info and Memorial. Sasha Baeva explains the ins and outs of our first large-scale legal defence campaign.
Arrested leaving a bar. Overnight, in the early hours of 3rd February, six people were detained on their way home from a bar in Moscow, when the police suspected them of taking part in a pro-Navalny protest. Of course, all the detainees were found guilty and convicted – those who appeared in court were detained further, and those who did not were fined. They were defended by OVD-Info’’ lawyer Denis Eliseev. Read his account of what happened in court.
Thanks!
Every day we take phone calls on our hotline, publish news and features about political repression in Russia, release guidance, reports and podcasts. Our lawyers handle criminal cases and submit complaints to the ECHR, while our IT-team works day in, day out to make our services more user-friendly. All of this can happen thanks to your support. Please sign up to make a monthly donation to OVD-Info. That way we can continue work and to send you your favourite mailing and more.
Translated by Judith Fagelson
