OVD Info

24 August 2024 

OVD-Info is a Russian civil society organisation 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.

Hello! New criminal charges brought for donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation, a person convicted of attempted arson of a military collection point faces intimidation, and imprisoned Crimean human rights activist is not receiving medical care. 

News

Three new criminal cases announced in relation to donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation. Moscow activists Konstantin Kotov and Viktor Levakov have been placed under house arrest. Both are being charged with funding extremist organisations; their homes were searched on 21 August. Kotov is being prosecuted for six donations each of 500 roubles (£4), and Levakov for three donations totalling around 3500 roubles (£28). A resident of the southern town of Tolyatti, Yury Bobkov, has been placed under travel restrictions for making six donations, each of 300 roubles; his home was searched on 22 July. 

• Why is this important? In June 2021, Moscow City Court designated the Anti-Corruption Foundation, and other organisations associated with Aleksei Navalny, to be “extremist organisations”. Since then, several convictions have been handed down on criminal charges based on donations to these organisations. For donations of several thousand, or even several hundred, roubles, Russians are punished with fines in the hundreds of thousands, community service, or given a suspended sentence. The law under which these men were sentenced even provides for imprisonment, though these punishments have not been yet issued purely for donations to the Anti-Corruption Foundation. 

A woman convicted of attempted arson against a military collection point is facing intimidation in a penal colony  20-year-old Valeriya Zotova is being threatened for refusing to cooperate with staff of the Kostroma region Penal Colony No. 3. She has been refusing to report on other inmates. Rumours have begun to circle around the prison that she allegedly is a drug addict, and Zotova is concerned that the authorities may plant drugs on her to start a new criminal case against her. In June 2023, Zotova was sentenced to six years in a penal colony for an attempted act of terrorism. According to the authorities, on the instructions of the Ukrainian military she tried to burn down a collection point for aid to be given to Russian soldiers. Her defence lawyer described how she was coaxed into this by FSB agents. 

• Why do I need to know this? Political prisoners, especially those prosecuted for acts of terrorism, are often treated in a particular way in penal colonies. Valeriya Zotova’s mother said that searches are often carried out in the barracks where she is held, with it sometimes being only her that is searched, and no one else. On top of this, prison staff told Zotova that the special level of supervision she was placed under immediately on arrival at the penal colony. Prison staff told her they could be fired if they removed her from this special level of supervision. 

Blogger and bodybuilder facing criminal charges for burning Russian passport Aleksandr Shpak has been charged with desecrating state symbols for posting a video entitled “I’m not Russian any more” on his YouTube channel. The video shows him burning his passport, and then singing the Ukrainian national anthem. This is not the first criminal case brought against him: in January, a warrant was issued for his arrest and he was then remanded in custody in absentia on a charge of publishing ‘fake news’ about the Russian military motivated by political hatred. In March, Shpak had also been charged with repeated discrediting of the Russian Army. 

• Why do I need to know this? Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, symbols of government and the ruling regime in Russia have begun to be protected even more jealously on the state level. Burning a passport is seen by the authorities as the same as desecrating a national symbol, and not just a personal document. For this reason, those who do such things face criminal charges. 

Sentenced Crimean human rights activist is not getting access to medical care in penal colony Human rights activist and journalist Iryna Danylovych is suffering from shortness of breath after she is no longer receiving drugs she had been given for ear problems. The decision to withdraw the treatment was taken by a member of the medical staff of Penal Colony No. 7 in Stavropol region, even though she is not a specialist in the relevant medical area, and even though audiologists earlier prescribed this medicine on two occasions. In December 2022, Danylovych was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on a charge of hiding 200 grams of explosives in a glasses’ case. The activist and her lawyers claim the explosives were planted on her, and that she was subjected to physical violence by the FSB. 

• Why do I need to know this? Iryna Danylovych’s health has significantly worsened since she was remanded in custody . In custody, she lost the hearing in her left ear and was not provided with medical treatment. In the penal colony, she was told in response to her complaints by a member of the medical staff that the pain would end once she became completely deaf. Independent doctors believe Danylovych suffered acute otitis media, that she has neurological disorders and brain lesions, and that she may have suffered a stroke in the remand prison.

Features

“Pain and joy at the same time”: A new project on intimidation by the authorities of the family members of political prisoners Year on year the level of political repression increases in Russia, and as part of this it is not just those prosecuted who are facing intimidation, but also their relatives and friends. Such practices long ago expanded beyond the North Caucasus. They are now regularly being used by authorities throughout the whole country. We have analysed such instances of threats in the years 2016 – 2023, and have written five reports about those whose relatives have faced prosecution, and we have also talked with a lawyer and a psychologist about what to do if you find yourself in such a situation.