!Antifascista ruso detenido en Madrid! - Russian writer and antifascist Pjotr Silajev is still arrested in Madrid -

Spanish below

Russian writer and antifascist Pjotr Silajev is still arrested in Madrid

Silajev had been granted a political asylum in Finland early this year.
The Finnish embassy in Madrid has said that Silajev can be kept arrested
for 40 days! The Spanish police arrested Silajev in Granada because of
request from Interpol on the 21st of august. Contrary to the
expectations, he was not released in a trial in Madrid on the 22nd of
august, even though the Finnish embassy had provided all the papers
concerning his asylum and right to stay in the country. The court
wouldnt comment the case. The Spanish police said that he only had a
Russian passport when he was arrested. It is not clear how the Finnish
state will react to the arrest.

The Moscow Times interviewed Tanya Lokshina from The Human Rights
Watch, who said that the Spanish state does not have to take into
concideration the asylum from Finland and are free to send him back to
Russia. This does not seem possible. The Finnish YLE news has
interviewed the head of the immigration office Esko Repo who said that
all the European Union countries are committed to not sending people to
countries where they might face prosecution.

The lawyer of Silajev said the situation looks bad.

The Moscow Times said that the hardening line of the Russian government
towards protests can lead to even more cases where people need to flee
the country. The case of Silajev can be connected to other cases where
people who had fled the country have been tried to be sent back.

Silajev was granted asylum from Finland in april of this year. The
reason was the continuing political prosecution in Russia. The Russian
Federation wants him convicted for demonstrations against a highway in
the Khimki region outside Moscow. Among other protests, the house of the
city council was attacked and some people throw stones and fireworks in
the building in 2010.

The hunt of Silajev seems to be the last resort for the prosecutor to
convict someone from the Khimki protests. Last year Aleksey Gaskarov,
who was arrested for months, was releassed of all charges and Maxim
Solopov received a two year sentence for hooliganism. The third suspect
Denis Solopov has received an asylum from the Netherlands.

The Moscow Times have said that the mayor of Khimki Vladimir
Strelchenko resigned last week because of pressure from the new governor
of Moscow. Strelchenko is suspected of organising attacks against the
protesters who were resisting the building of the highway.

We are asking for solidarity from our comrades in Madrid and other
parts of the Spanish state! Support our anarchist and antifascist comrade!

Spread the word!

Taken from Finnish anarchist web page Takku.net

http://takku.net/article.php/20120824021656685

(via
https://avtonom.org/en/news/russian-writer-and-antifasAcist-pjotr-silajev-still-arrested-madrid)

!Antifascista ruso detenido en Madrid!


El escritor antifascista ruso, Pjotr Silajev continua detenido en
Madrid. Silajev había conseguido asilo político en Finlandia a principios
de año. La embajada Finlandesa en Madrid ha declarado que Silajev puede
seguir retenido hasta 40 días. La policía española detuvo a Silajev en
Granada bajo una orden de la
Interpol, interpuesta el 21 de agosto. Tras su traslado a Madrid,
contrariamente a lo esperado, no fue puesto en libertad condicional al día
siguiente, a pesar de que la embajada finlandesa le había proporcionado
todos los papeles necesarios para garantizar su asilo y el derecho a estar
en el país. El juez no aceptó recursos al respecto. La policía por su parte
dice que Silajev tan solo tenía un pasaporte ruso cuando fue detenido.
Todavía
está por ver cuál será la reacción del Estado finlandés.

The Moscow Times entrevistó a Tanya Lokshina de The Human Rights Watch,
quien declaró que el Estado español no tiene la obligación de considerar el
asilo otorgado por Finlandia, pudiendo enviar al activista antifascista
directamente de vuelta a Rusia. Ésto no parece ser cierto. El canal
finlandés de noticias YLE ha entrevistado a Esko Repo, director de la
oficina de inmigración, que ha explicado como todos los países de la Unión
Europea tienen el compromiso de no enviar personas de vuelta a países donde
puedan ser perseguidas por motivos políticos.

El abogado de Silajev dice que la situación pinta mal.

Según The Moscow Times, la creciente represión por parte del gobierno ruso
contra protestas y disidentes puede llevar a muchos más ciudadanos viéndose
obligados a huir del país. El caso de Silajev no está aislado; puede
conectarse con muchas otras historias de personas que, habiendo huído del
país, fueron perseguidas con la intención de enviarlas de vuelta a Rusia.

Silajev obtuvo asilo en Finlandia en abril del presente año. El motivo fue
la continua persecución política que estaba sufriendo en Rusia. La
Federación Rusa quiere encarcelarlo por las manifestaciones en contra de la
construcción de una autopista en la región de Khimki, a las afueras de
Moscú. Entre otras acciones, el ayuntamiento de la ciudad de Khimki fue
atacado con piedras y petardos en 2010.

La caza de Silajev parece ser el último recurso del fiscal para intentar
seguir criminalizando las protestas de Khimki. El año pasado el activista
Aleksey Gaskarov, tras pasar varios meses detenido, fue puesto en libertad
sin cargos mientras que Maxim Solopov, otro presunto implicado en las
acciones, fue condenado a dos años de cárcel bajo el cargo de
“hooliganismo”. El tercer sospechoso, Denis Solopov, ha recibido asilo
político en Holanda.

The Moscow Times ha publicado recientemente la dimisión del alcalde de
Khimki, Vladimir Strelchenko, que abandonó su cargo debido a presiones del
nuevo gobernador de Moscú. Stretchenko es sospechoso de haber organizado
ataques, realizados por mercenarios y grupos neonazis, contra la acampada
de manifestantes que resistía y bloqueaba la construcción de la autopista.

¡Pedimos solidaridad a nuestros compañeros de Madrid y otras partes del
Estado español! ¡Apoyo para nuestro compañero antifascista y anarquista!

¡Pásalo!

Extraído y traducido de la página web anarquista finlandesa Takku.net”


http://takku.net/article.php/20120824021656685

The Wrong Reasons to Back Pussy Riot

By VADIM NIKITIN

August 20, 2012 NY Times 

From Madonna to Bjork, from the elite New Yorker to the populist Daily Mail, the world united in supporting Russia’s irreverent feminist activists Pussy Riot against the blunt cruelty inflicted on them by the state. It may not have stopped Vladimir Putin’s kangaroo court from sentencing them to two years in prison on charges of hooliganism, but blanket international media pressure helped turn the case into a major embarrassment for the Kremlin.

Yet there is something about the West’s embrace of the young women’s cause that should make us deeply uneasy, as Pussy Riot’s philosophy, activism and even music quickly took second place to its usefulness in discrediting one of America’s geopolitical foes. Twenty years after the end of the Cold War, are dissident intellectuals once again in danger of becoming pawns in the West’s anti-Russian narrative? 

Back in the ’70s, the United States and its allies cared little about what Soviet dissidents were actually saying, so long as it was aimed against the Kremlin. No wonder so many Americans who had never read Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s books cheered when he dissed the Soviet Union later felt so shocked, offended and even betrayed when he criticized many of the same shortcomings in his adoptive homeland. Wasn’t this guy supposed to be on our side? 

Using dissidents to score political points against the Russian regime is as dangerous as adopting a pet tiger: No matter how domesticated they may seem, in the end they are free spirits, liable to maul the hand that feeds them. 

How many fans of Pussy Riot’s zany “punk prayer” in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova’s erudite and moving closing statement were equally thrilled by her participation, naked and heavily pregnant, in a public orgy at a Moscow museum in 2008? That performance, by the radical art group Voina (Russian for “war”), was meant to illustrate how Russians were abused by their government. Voina had previously set fire to a police car and drew obscene images on a St. Petersburg drawbridge. 

Stunts like that would get you arrested just about anywhere, not just in authoritarian Russia. But Pussy Riot and its comrades at Voina come as a full package: You can’t have the fun, pro-democracy, anti-Putin feminism without the incendiary anarchism, extreme sexual provocations, deliberate obscenity and hard-left politics. 

Unless you are comfortable with all that (and I strongly suspect 99 percent of Pussy Riot’s fans in the mainstream media are not), then standing behind Pussy Riot only now, when it is obviously blameless and the government clearly guilty, is pure opportunism. And just like in the bad old days, such knee-jerk yet selective support for Russian dissidents — without fully engaging with their ideas — is not only hypocritical but also does a great disservice to their cause. 

A former Soviet dissident and current member of the anti-Putin opposition, Eduard Limonov, knows such cynicism too well. Thrown out of the Soviet Union and welcomed in New York as a Cold War trophy, Limonov soon learned that it wasn’t the dissent part that the United States loved about Soviet dissidents, but their anti-communism. A bristly and provocative anti-Soviet leftist, he got to work doing what he did best — taking on the establishment — and quickly found himself in hot water again, this time with the Americans. Limonov concluded that “the F.B.I. is just as zealous in putting down American radicals as the K.G.B. is with its own radicals and dissidents.” 

At the core of much of the media fever over Pussy Riot lies a fundamental misunderstanding of what these Russian dissidents are about. Some outlets have portrayed the case as a quest for freedom of expression and other ground rules of liberal democracy. Yet the very phrase “freedom of expression,” with its connotations of genteel protest as a civic way to blow off some steam while life goes on, is alien to Russian radical thought. The members of Pussy Riot are not liberals looking for self-expression. They are self-confessed descendants of the surrealists and the Russian futurists, determined to radically, even violently, change society. 

Anyone who has bothered to see them beyond their relevance as anti-Kremlin proxies will know that these young people are as contemptuous of capitalism as they are of Putinism. They are targeting not just Russian authoritarianism, but, in Tolokonnikova’s words, the entire “corporate state system.” And that applies to the West as much as to Russia itself. It includes many of the fawning foreign media conglomerates covering the trial, like Murdoch’s News Corp., and even such darlings of the anti-Putin “liberal opposition” establishment as the businessman and anti-corruption campaigner Aleksei Navalny. 

Pussy Riot’s fans in the West need to understand that their heroes’ dissent will not stop at Putin; neither will it stop if and when Russia becomes a “normal” liberal democracy. Because what Pussy Riot wants is something that is equally terrifying, provocative and threatening to the established order in both Russia and the West (and has been from time immemorial): freedom from patriarchy, capitalism, religion, conventional morality, inequality and the entire corporate state system. We should only support these brave women if we, too, are brave enough to go all the way. 

Vadim Nikitin is a journalist and Russia analyst.

Alexey Polikhovich - third anarchist, remanded for 6th of May riots in Moscow

Aug. 20, 2012 Avtonom

 

27th of July, Basmanniy district court of Moscow remanded Alexey Polikhovich for one month. He is 16th suspect for participating to rioting in Bolotnaya square 6th of May 2012, in day of inauguration of Vladimir Putin. He was third arrested anarchist - Aleksandra Dukhanina has been in a house arrest since 29th of May, Stepan Zimin has been in remand prison since 9th of July. Alexey Polikhovich was arrested in the evening of 25th of July, his house was searched and his computer was confiscated. Investigative committee of the Russian Federation is suspecting Alexey of having committed crimes according to parts 2 and 3 of the statute 212 of the criminal codex of the Russian Federation.(calls for and participation to a riot), and part 1 of the statute 318 of the criminal codex of the Russian Federation (violence against a representative of authority). Investigative committee presented witness statements of police, who attacked permitted demonstration, who claimed that Polikhovich was de-arresting people that day, and also a photograph of a masked person, whom they claimed to be Polikhovich. 

Investigator also read a written testimony from "E center", that Polikhovich "is a member and has connections in extremist organisations".

According to defence, prosecution has no case, and also presented a positive characteristics from his current workplace.

Alexey Polikhovich is 21 years old, he was conscripted to Northern Fleet (his photograph attached to this article is from his time in service). Currently Alexey is studying in Russian State Social University of Moscow in a conflictology program (he finished first year of his studies), and is working as a courier.

Polikhovich was part of the anarchist blocs during all the main oppositional actions during the winter, he joined Occupy in Moscow after inauguration of Putin, and also participated to defence of the Cagovsky forest in Moscow region. He was detained 6th of May.

Additional information: +7-985-247-20-65 (Moscow group of Autonomous Action)

You may donate for arrested through Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow: http://wiki.avtonom.org/en/index.php/Donate

Russian Anti-fascists are facing charges for making a movie

Aug. 20, 2012 Avtonom

(This is a partial English translation of a program, aired in Dozhd TV channel 17th of August, which is embedded below.)

Center of Counteraction Against Extremism ("E-Center") in the city of Vladimir did not liked amateur movie "Russian anti-racist skinheads", and they opened a criminal case against makers of the film. According to them, film incited hatred against "social group of skinheads and nationalists".
Ilya Vasyunin: Movie was first screened one year ago. I was in one of the secret screenings in Moscow. It is dangerous to publicly screen such movies, as such an event may be attacked by "social group of nationalists".

Film includes cuts from concerts of anti-fascist bands and interviews of such bands, from Russia and other countries of former Soviet Union.

Author visited several cities and screened the film, and in one of these cities, in Vladimir, he was detained. This happened one week ago, and soon he learned, that a criminal case has been opened against him.

Andrei Ivanov, author of the film: I came to the city of Vladimir, and I was arrested by E-Center officials. First they made drug tests, which did not revealed anything, alcometer also showed zero intoxication. I was detained and I spent in a police station all night, next day I was transferred to prosecution administration of the Vladimir region.

Movie does not include any calls - its purpose is just to show existence of such a subculture.

Sidorkina, lawyer of Ivanov: According to the prosecution, "Ivanov on purpose, with a goal of inciting hate or animosity according to membership in a social group of "skinheads", with nationalistic ideas, made a public movie screening of video "Russian anti-racist skinheads". Currently in all major cities, such as Nizhni Novgorod and Moscow, criminal cases are opened against Antifa.

Ilya Vasunin: This is not the first time, when statute 282 of the Russian criminal codex ("inciting hate against a group") is used against anti-
fascists. But this far no anti-fascists have been sentenced according to the statute, so it remains to be seen, how the case will stand on court.

Source: http://tvrain.ru/articles/vrazhda_k_natsionalistam_kak_sotsialnoj_gruppe...
To download Russian version of the film: http://narod.ru/disk/23231697001/Russian%20Anti-Racist%20Skinheads%20DVD%20(2011).avi.htm

To watch English version of the film in the youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R06SJKnNKqY

Russian punk band found guilty of ‘hooliganism,’ given two-year jail sentenc

By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo! News | The Lookout – Fri, Aug 17, 2012

 
Click on the photo to see more images. (Pussy Riot/Live Journal)

Three members of Pussy Riot--a Russian punk band and feminist collective that mocked Russian president Vladamir Putin during a "punk prayer" in a Moscow cathedral--have been found guilty of  hooliganism and sentenced to two years in jail.

Judge Marina Syrova announced the verdict from a district court in central Moscow, about two miles from the Christ the Saviour Cathedral where the guerrilla group performed its "flash" stunt.
"The girls' actions were sacrilegious, blasphemous and broke the church's rules," Syrova said.
The band members--Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30--were arrested on March 3, several weeks after the performance, and charged with "hooliganism." They've been in jail ever since.

The trio sat behind a class-walled cage inside the courtroom and laughed as the verdict was read. Prosecutors had sought a three-year sentence.

Supporters outside the courthouse chanted "Shame!" as news of the verdict spread.

"They are in jail because it is Putin's personal revenge," Alexei Navalny, one of them, told Reuters. "This verdict was written by Vladimir Putin."

The trial drew enormous international interest, sparking catcalls from international free-speech advocates and spawning dozens of protests. There were several impromptu protests in Moscow, London, Paris, Barcelona and elsewhere on Friday, and numerous reports of arrests.

Madonna, Bjork, Paul McCartney and Courtney Love were among a long list of musicians to come out in support of Pussy Riot, calling on the Russian government to set the band members free. Last week in Berlin, more than 400 people joined a protest led by electro-singer Peaches.

"In one of the most extravagant displays," the Associated Press said, "Reykjavik Mayor Jon Gnarr rode through the streets of the Icelandic capital in a Gay Pride parade ... dressed like a band member--wearing a bright pink dress and matching balaclava--while lip-synching to one of Pussy Riot's songs."

What started as "a punk-infused political prank," London's Independent said, "has rapidly snowballed into one of the most notorious court cases in post-Soviet Russian history."

Five members of the group, which formed in 2011, were arrested in January after a video of a Putin-baiting performance in Moscow's Red Square circulated online. They were detained for several hours by police, fined and released, NPR said.

But the 10-member Pussy Riot, inspired by the American "riot grrrl" movement and bands like Bikini Kill, vowed more protest performances.

Pussy Riot's stunt at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox church, was a response, they said, to Patriarch Kirill's public support of Putin in the build-up to Russia's presidential election. Putin won a third term as president in March.

"Holy Mother, send Putin packing!" the group sang.

The Guardian called the trial, which began on July 30, "worse than Soviet era."

"By the end of the first week of Pussy Riot's trial," the Guardian's Miriam Elder wrote last week, "everyone in the shabby Moscow courthouse was tired. Guards, armed with submachine guns, grabbed journalists and threw them out of the room at will. The judge, perched in front of a shabby Russian flag, refused to look at the defense. And the police dog--a 100 [pound] black Rottweiler--no longer sat in the corner she had occupied since the start of Russia's trial of the year, but barked and foamed at the mouth as if she were in search of blood."

Lawyers for the women complained during the trial that the trio were being starved and tortured in prison. Two threatened to go on a hunger strike after they were initially jailed.

"Their treatment has caused deep disquiet among many Russians, who feel the women are--to coin a phrase from the 1967 trial of members of the Rolling Stones--butterflies being broken on a wheel," the BBC's Daniel Sandford wrote.

Syrova was subjected to unspecified threats during the trial, Russian authorities announced on Thursday--assigning bodyguards to protect her before and after she announced the verdict.

Several Russian pop stars, though, questioned the outpouring of support for Pussy Riot.

"What is so great about Pussy Riot that all these international stars support them?" Russian singer Valeria wrote on her website, according to Reuters. "They must be saying this because someone ordered them to."

"Art and politics are inseparable for us," the band said in an interview with the online newspaper Gazeta.ru in February. "We try to make political art. Performances and their rehearsals are our job. Life in Pussy Riot takes a lot of time."

Anti-Putin feminist punks on trial in Moscow

By LAURA MILLS | Associated Press – Fri, Jul 20, 2012

MOSCOW — A Moscow court on Friday launched the trial of three feminist rockers who face a possible seven years in prison for performing a "punk prayer" against Vladimir Putin from the pulpit of Russia's largest cathedral.

The case of the three members of the band Pussy Riot has deeply divided Russia, pitting advocates of openness against the forces of order and the powerful Russian Orthodox Church. The three had been held in jail for more than four months without a single court hearing.

The February stunt, two weeks before the election that returned Putin to the presidency, was designed to offend. Five members of Pussy Riot — wearing brightly colored balaclavas and miniskirts — briefly took over the pulpit at Christ The Savior Cathedral, chanting "Mother Mary, drive Putin away" and high-kicking cancan-style.
What happened after security guards seized the five was extraordinary — even for a country whose leaders have shown little patience for protest. Three of the band members, two of whom have young children, were thrown into jail and face charges of hooliganism that could bring them seven years if convicted.

Supporters of the three say their jailing and charges are a draconian demonstration of how the church holds heavy sway in the government.

At Friday's preliminary hearing, prosecutors asked that the women — Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23, Maria Alekhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29 — be held in custody for at least six more months as the trial progresses. Defense attorneys have repeatedly asked for them to be released, in particular so they can take care of their young children.

The Khamovniki District Court building on Friday was surrounded by dozens of riot policemen, along with the band's supporters and critics. The court proceedings were closed to the public.

Amnesty International said on Friday that it considers the three women to be prisoners of conscience "detained solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs." The organization renewed its call on Russian authorities to drop the charges of hooliganism and release the band members.

The church says the women deserve to be prosecuted for their "blasphemous" performance from a place near the altar on which no lay people are allowed to stand. But thousands of believers have signed a petition urging the church to forgive the band.

Although church and state are separate under Russia's constitution, the Russian Orthodox Church has claimed a leading role in setting moral guidelines for society. Its growing prominence has caused concern among followers of minority faiths and nonreligious Russians.

The case has particularly rattled the Russian intelligentsia. In late June, over one hundred artists and intellectuals — pro- and anti-Putin alike — sent an open letter to the state, calling for the women's release.

In a poll by the independent Levada Center and released by the prominent newspaper Kommersant on Friday, 50 percent of Muscovites said they did not support a criminal trial for the members of Pussy Riot, with 36 percent supporting the trial.

Pussy Riot gained notoriety about a month before the arrest by performing a song titled "Putin Chickens Out" from a spot on Red Square used in czarist Russia for announcing government decrees. Videos of their performances became instant Internet hits.

On Wednesday, the chairman for the parliamentary committee for Family, Women and Children issues Elena Mizulina, called for authorities to look into earlier alleged misbehavior of the three women, who were participants in Voina (War), an art-protest group.

Among the group's most noted outrageous acts was the drawing of an enormous phallus on a drawbridge in St. Petersburg. Tolokonnikova was among the participants in a 2008 obscene "fertility rite" at Moscow museum, mocking Dmitry Medvedev, who was elected Russian president the next day. Alekhina released a video for the group in which she masturbated in a grocery store with a chicken leg.

The three women face criminal charges for "hooliganism." The language of both state officials and the prosecution has been more moralistic than legal.

"This is only the small, visible tip of an iceberg of extremists," Mikhail Kuznetsov, a lawyer representing church security guards, said in an interview with the newspaper Moscow News on Thursday. "They are aiming to destroy the thousand-year-old traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church, to provoke a schism, and to deceivingly bring the flock not towards God, but towards Satan."

Two anti-fascists remanded 4th of July, after an incident at club "Barrikada" in Moscow

July 17, 2012 Avtonom

4th of July, at Presnenski district court of Moscow, judge Dmitry Dolgopolov fulfilled request of the police to imprison two of the six anti-fascists, who were remanded in night of second of July, not far from club "Barrikada". 23 year old Irina Lipskaya and 19 year old Andrey Molchanov, suspected of having committed crimes according to statute of Russian criminal codex 213 part 2 (hooliganism, committed with a group of people). They will be held in remand prison at least until 2nd of September. According to police, anarchists and anti-fascists attacked guests of a Nazi concert with rubber bullets and flares.

According to arrested themselves, six anti-fascists were travelling by Zvenigorskoye highway in Moscow. They stopped car not so far from club "Barrikada", in order to smoke. Guests of the fascist concert attacked their car with rubber bullets, damage from which is still visible in car. Anti-fascists jumped to car and attempted to drive away, but were arrested after few seconds by SOBR special forces of the police.

During arrest, they were beaten up, and beatings continued in the police station of Presnenski district. According to arrested, police used psychological pressure to have nationalists to testify against Irina Lipskaya and Andrey Molchanov.

Irina did not even left car at the club. Prosecution attempted to have two others from the six remanded, but as nationalists did not testified against them, they were released. But as they are suspects, most likely they will not be allowed to leave city. Another two arrested were released immediately with travelling restrictions, as they are underage.

It is obvious, that this is a political case against anti-fascists. As SOBR special forces were on the spot, anti-fascists were under police surveillance in prior to arrest, and police was determined to set a trap. This is not the only political case against anti-fascists in Moscow - besides Irina and Andrey, three more anti-fascists are currently detained in Moscow - Alexey Sutuga, Alexey Olesinov and Igor Kharchenko.

We are gathering money for legal costs of the arrested anti-fascists. If you want to participate to fundraising effort, please read instructions at http://wiki.avtonom.org/en/index.php/Donate

Phone number for additional information: +7-985-247-20-65

Antti Rautiainen denied Russian visa request

June 23, 2012 Avtonom

On Thursday, the 14th of June anarchist and member of the Moscow - Autonomous Action, Antti Rautiainen, was denied his Russian visa request. The refusal was not exaplained.

Rautiainen had a Russian temporary residence permit, but it was annulled at the end of March. According to authorities, he had made "calls to violently overthrow constitutional order or Russian Federation." He was given 15 days to leave the Russian Federation.

In Helsinki, Rautiainen applied for a tourist visa for the month of August through a tourist agency. However, this visa request was denied. No explanations were given, but one may assume, that the reasons are political - that is, Rautiainen's anarchist activity in the ranks of Autonomous Action.

Deportation means a five year ban on entering the Russian Federation. Rautiainen, however, was not deported, and there are no legal barriers against admitting him etrance to the Russian Federation. So one may assume, that he is either blacklisted by Russian secret services, or embassy denied him a visa on an individual basis. However, Rautiainen does not expect to be able to enter the Russian Federation anytime soon.

Rautiainen promises to continue attempts to overthrow the constitutional order of Russian Federation, and any other state, outside Russia.

Back articles on the issue:  http://avtonom.org/en/people/antti-rautiainen

Write letters to anarchist and anti-fascist prisoners of Moscow!

June 13, 2012 Libcom.org

Kharchenko Igor Olegovich
FKU SIZO-2 UFSIN Rossii po g. Moskve
ul. Novoslobodskaya d. 45
127055 Moskva Russia

Igor was arrested in September 2011. He is accused of having
participated in a fight on the 4th of July 2010, during which the
audience of a punk hardcore concert dispersed a band of nationalists,
who had come in order to kill and maim concert guests. Igor, however,
did not take part in the fight - plenty of those present at the concert
have given testimony, that during the fight Igor was performing in the
concert. The whole case against Igor relies exclusively
on the testimony of failed "race warriors", V. Sumin and V. Zhidousouv.
The true reason for the arrest of Kharchenko is an attempt by Moscow
investigators to take revenge on their failure to jail anyone for the
action by anti-fascists against the Khimki city administration on the
28th of July 2010. Igor's co-accused is one of the "Khimki hostages",
who has received refugee status in Western Europe after UNCHR
recognised, that the police investigation on the Khimki case was carried
out with various violations, for example confessions gained through use
of torture. Moscow investigators ignored the fact, that during this
fight Solopov was in Turkey, which is confirmed by the stamps in his
passport, and plenty of eye-witnesses.

The investigation also attempts to indict Kharchenko for "organising of
an extremist community," according to statute 282.1 of the Russian
criminal codex.

More on the case against Kharchenko:
http://avtonom.org/en/people/igor-kharchenko

Butyrka prison has also a form, which you may use in order to send letters:
http://wr1.fsin-service.ru/Letter-Client/main.html#new_letter

However, this form is only in Russian and paying for the service
(minimal payment is around 1.20 euros) requires either a Russian bank
account or account in some internet payment system, common in Russia
(such as yandex.dengi or webmoney). In form, you must indicate year of
birth of Kharchenkio - 1991.

Sutuga Alexey Vladimirovich
FKU SIZO-2 UFSIN Rossii po g. Moskve
ul. Novoslobodskaya d. 45
127055 Moskva Russia

Alexey Sutuga has been a member of Autonomous Action since the early
2000s. He was first active in Irkutsk and then in Moscow. He
participated in every single major campaign of the anarchist movement in
the past ten years, and supported the journal Avtonom. In 2007, he
joined the ecological protest camp against uranium enrichment in city of
Angarsk in Siberia, which was assaulted by nationalists in the early
morning hours. Ilya Borodaenko from Nahodka of Pacific Ocean was
murdered there, and a number of other visitors of the camp were
seriously wounded.

Alexey was arrested on the evening of 17th of April, and has been in
remand prison since then. He, together with Alexey Olesinov, is accused
of having taken part in an incident in the Moscow club "Vozdukh", where
on 17th of December, during a punk-hardcore concert, a conflict between
the audience and the security took place. The club security, consisted
of supporters of the far right, and were provoking guests. Due to the
conflict, the concert was stopped prematurely, but the security
attempted to take some guests hostage, threatening them with punishment
from their friends - nationalist football hooligans. Concert guests
resisted, the security opened fire with rubber coated metal bullets, but
soon the concert-goers gained the upper hand and the security was
neutralised and sent to the hospital.

More on the case of the Moscow prisoners: http://avtonom.org/en/mda
The Butyrka prison also has a form which can be used in order to send
letters:
http://wr1.fsin-service.ru/Letter-Client/main.html#new_letter

However, this form is only in Russian and paying for this service
(minimal payment is around 1.20 euros) requires either a Russian bank
account or an account with some internet payment system, common in
Russia (such as yandex.dengi or webmoney). In the form, you must
indicate year of birth of Sutuga - - 1986.

Full list of prisoners in former Soviet Union by Anarchist Black Cross
of Moscow:
http://wiki.avtonom.org/en/index.php/Category-prisoners_in_former_Soviet_Union

After mass protests against election fraud, Moscow anarchists are targeted with repressions

This far five of the persons charged for rioting after events of "March of the millions" 6th of May in Moscow, two are known anarchist activists. Of them, Alexandra Dukhanina is in home arrest, and Stepan Zimin was remanded today until 8th of August.

 

Alexandra Dukhanina may face up to 8 years in prison for participation to "March of the millions" 6th of May in Moscow

 

June 10, 2012 Avtonom

5th of June lawyer of 18 year old Alexandra Dukhanina, Aleksandr Arutyunov told journalists, that his client has now been offically charged with "participation to riots" and "use of violence against a government official". "Currently Dukhanina was charged with statutes 318 ("use of violence against government official") and 212 part 3 ("incitement to riot) of Russian criminal codex. Now charges according to 318 are remaining, but incitement charges were dropped - Dukhanina is now charged according to 212 part 3 ("participation to a riot").

Dukhanina has participated to actions of anarchist and Оccupy movement in Moscow. She is now under a house arrest. Second lawyer Dmitry Yefremov said, that whereas his client was faced with a threat of two years in prison, now her charges may mean from three to eight years of prison. Dukhanina was arrested in end of may. She was the first regular participator of the "March of the millions", threatened with charges which may result a major prison sentence.

Defence of Dukhanina is insisting, that it is illegal to charge her according to both 318 and 212 part 2. She may not be held responsible for the very same actions, charged with two different statutes. Investigation should choose either of the two statutes, and charge her accordingly.

"March of the millions", which ended with a fight with the riot police and mass arrests, took place 6th of May in Moscow. According to official information, around eight thousand people took part - correspondents of foreign media estimated 20 000. 450 were arrested. Dozens of participators were seriously wounded due to baton charges of the police.

Later on, two more participators got arrested - Maksim Luzyanin and Andrey Barabanov. Both of them are remanded until 6th of July. Barabanov is vegan, and police also claims that he has links to anarchist and anti-fascist movements. However this has been denied by his friends and relatives.

Investigators are promising more arrests to come.

More photos of Alexandra in court: http://avtonom.org/news/aleksandra-dukhanina-budet-nakhoditsya-pod-domas...

Photo of her arrest 6th of May: http://avtonom.org/news/pervyi-arest-po-delu-o-prizyvakh-k-massovym-besp...

Instructions on how to donate for lawyer costs via Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow:
http://wiki.avtonom.org/en/index.php/Donate

(original in Russian: http://avtonom.org/news/moskva-aleksandre-dukhaninoi-za-uchastie-v-marsh...)

Investigation committee claims a student-reenactor is a terrorist

June 10, 2012 Avtonom

8th of june, investigation committee of Russian Federation announced, that home of 20 year old Stepan Zimin, who was detained as a suspect of having taken part to a riot at Bolotnaya square 6th of May was searched. According to police, a walkie-talkie, ski-mask, molotov cocktail and several passports were found. Stepan himself told his lawyer, Denis Deryukin, that during search only his own passport and army documents of his former flatmate were found. What comes to "molotov cocktail", he said that it was just a bottle of acetone. Zimin is a student of Russian State Humanitarian University, and acetone is necessary to clean up his reenactement regalia. It is not illegal to own masks and walkie-talkies in Russia.

Defence lawyer also told, that an OMON riot police officer had given testimony, claiming to recognise that Zimin threw him with pieces of asphalt, and also broke his finger. Stepan is has not admitted being guilty, and he states that he did not took part of the rioting.

Stepan was among hundreds of other peoples, who got arrested 6th of may. He was originally charged with a misdemeanor according to statute 19.3 of the Russian Administrative Codex, and attempts of investigative committee to charge him with a felony are illegal, as it is not allowed to charge one according to both misdemeanor and felony charges.

Just as arrested Alexandra Dukhanina, Stepan Zimin is a participator of anarchist and anti-fascist movements, Occupy-movement and also movement to defend forests of the Moscow region.

On sunday 10th it was announced, that court has decided to remand Zimin until 8th of August.

Three other persons, Alexandra Dukhanina, Andrey Barabanov and Maksim Luzyanin, have already been charged with "participation to riot" and "violence against government official". Dukhanina is under a house arrest, Barabanov and Luzyanin are in remand prison. Investigation committee is has promised that more arrests will follow.
'
Additional information: +7 985 247 2065 (Moscow group of Autonomous Action)

Instructions on how to donate for lawyer costs via Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow:
http://wiki.avtonom.org/en/index.php/Donate

Join common days of action for Alexey Sutuga, Alexey Olesinov and all repressed anti-fascists

May 25, 2012 Avtonom

In spring of 2012, anti-fascist movement of Russia has been targeted with new repressions. An excuse for the repressions was an incident in Moscow club "Vozdukh", where 17th of December, during a punk-hardcore concert, a conflict between public and the security took place. Security of the club consisted of supporters of the far right, and were provoking guests. Due to conflict, concert was got halted prematurely, but the security attempted to take some guests as hostages, promising them punishment from their friends - nationalistic football hooligans. Visitors of the concert resisted, the security opened fire with rubber coated metal bullets, but soon guests of the concert gained upper hand and the security was neutralised.

Alexey Olesinov was arrested 12th of February in Sankt-Petersburg. Alexey Sutuga was arrested in evening of 17th of April in Moscow. Currently, both of them are in a remand prison in Moscow.

But incident in club "Vozdukh" is just an excuse for yet another attempt to destroy anti-fascist movement in Moscow, and in Russia in general. Authorities of the Russian federation are not in a condition to stop nationalists - they are either ignoring the threat alltogether, or attempt to set up "a controllable nationalist movement", but in the end these attempts just becoming subsidies of the far right from the state - let us keep in mind the close cooperation between pro-Kremlin youth organisations and "Russkiy Obraz", which in turn was connected to armed Nazi underground organisation of Yevgeniya Khasis and Nikita Tihonov. But state is harshly intervening against any civic initiatives, which attempt to fight against nationalists using direct action.

Goal of the most recent operation of the authorities is to neutralise most known and most active anti-fascists of Moscow. Both activists have been in anti-fascist movement for a decade already. Olesinov was already once jailed with bogus charges - in November of year 2008 he was arrested, allegedly for a fight with security in club "Kult" in August of that year. Immediately after that incident, Olesinov was arrested, but released without any charges, as he was not committing even a misdemeanor and club security had no any demands. However, prosecutor demanded 5 years prison sentence on basis of Second part of Statute 213 of Russian criminal codex ("Hooliganism"), but thanks to a wide protest campaign and a number of protests both in Russia and abroad, eventually he was only jailed for a year. But this prison sentence damaged his health for good, and after new arrest in February, he has had continuous health problems. He was diagnosed an early form of tuberculosis, apparently contracted during his previous prison term, but he is not provided a proper medical care.

Remand court of Olesinov involved outrageous violations - prosecutor claims that he was hiding from the officials, and provided judge a warrant not to leave Moscow with a falsified signature, dated to beginning of the February. But there is no way Olesinov could have signed such a paper in Moscow, since he was continuously staying in St. Petersburg since December.

Alexey Sutuga is a member of Autonomous Action since early years of 2000s, he was first active in Irkutsk and then in Moscow. He participated to every single major campaign of anarchist movement during the last ten years, and supported journal Avtonom. In 2007, he joined ecological protest camp against uranium enrichment in city of Angarsk in Siberia, which was assaulted by nationalists in the early morning hours. Ilya Borodaenko from Nahodka of Pacific Ocean was murdered, and a number of other visitors of the camp were seriously wounded.

We should not let state to attack anti-fascist movement yet another time! We call everyoen to join
common days of actions for Alexey Sutuga, Alexey Olesinov and all repressed antifascists from 10th to 17th of July - during these days, new court decision on continuation of remand imprisonment will be made in Moscow.

Any kind of actions are welcome - marches, pickets, wheatpasting, graffiti, writing of protest letters and so on - choose whichever methods are the most actual where you live. But do not forget to contact s in prior, so that we could list you among the participating cities!

If you want to participate, write to info@avtonom.org, or call or send sms to Moscow group of Autonomous Action: +7-985-247-20-65

More on the case in section  "Moscow case against anti-fascists", http://avtonom.org/en/mda
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After eviction, Occupy camp of Moscow is reborn in Kudrinskaya square

May 17, 2012 Avtonom

 

In morning of 16th of August Occupy camp of Moscow ("Occupy Abai") was evicted from Chistie Prudy after a court order, but it was re-established the same day at Kudrinskaya square (also known as Revolution square). Lectures, infocenter and field kitchen (both omnivorous and vegan) were relaunched. 20 PM several hundreds of people gathered in the square. During the evening, a police officer approached several times Food Not Bombs activists, distributing vegan food, and demanded them to quit distribution, as they allegedly did not had necessary permissions to distribute food. Activists answered, that they just distribute food and offer it to their friends. Around 21:30 OMON riot police showed up at the vegan kitchen. Five activists were arrested, and police also confiscated food, part of the food, some journals which were around, and most importantly a box with donations. Protesters were enraged, and with shouts "thieves" they blocked police vans, demanding release of the comrades. People formed chains, which were attacked by OMON, people were pulled over and arrested, some comrades were dearrested.

Eventually protesters attempted to block Sadovaya ring road, but cops quickly cleared them. OMON also managed to disperse chains.

Evening assembly, which was disturbed by arrest, made a majority decision to stay in the Kudrinskaya square only when OMON makes an all out attack against the camp.

Eventually police administration promised that as long as protesters are not trampling the grass (original camp in Kubai statue was evicted after protestors allegedly trampled grass), and promised to release arrested, with exception of those who pierced tyres of police vans and assaulted riot police. Assembly participators were wondering, how come police may define, who should be kept under arrest. After a short discussion, it was almost unanimously decided that there will not be a compromise with police, and all of the 20 arrested kept in Presnenskoye police station should be released.

Protesters saw, how a group of arrested was taken from a van with pierced wheels to another van. Arrested were shouting that police beats them, and does not allow them to take their property with them.

Main accomplishment of 16th of May is that camp in Revolution square managed to defend itself.
Follow nightly updates from  Presnenskoe police station in Vkontakte: http://vk.com/avtonom_org

Occupy Abai - day 8

May 15, 2012 Avtonom

 

One day in the life of protest camp against inauguration of Putin in Moscow - 14th of May

Before evening Anarchist singer-songwriter "comrade Arkadi" made a concert. Later, a freemarket was opened, where everyone could leave their goods and gather what was left by other people. Tomorrow 15th of May, there will be a lecture on free non-capitalist economy in the camp.

Closer to the evening, participators of the "Food Not Bombs", who have already developed a routine for feeding the camp, brough food. Evening assembly become a full general meeting, deciding all important questions. This evening, several hundred people took part, but unfortunately not all participators of the camp are interested. It was decided that a general assembly will be organise every evening 21:00 at the statue of Abai Kunanbayev.

This time, financial questions were given a special attention. Most of the people agreed, that due to big turnover of the people in the camp (in practice nobody may be present 24 hours a day), there should be at least three treasurers, and not just one, as it was decided 13th of May. As a matter of fact, there is already a working group on the finances, which was selected after first general assembly in the camp, it is allocating necessary money for other groups. Amounts exceeding 5000 rubles (120 euros/$) will be dicscussed in the general assembly.

Also, question of moving the camp was discussed. Some people proposed to negotiate with Moscow authorities, and to move camp to a spot where authorities would allow tents (at the moment, people are sleeping without tents). But other participators were adamant in staying in Chistye Prudy until the end, and in case of dispersal of the camp, to move camp to other spot in the boulevard ring of the capital.

Duma deputy Dmitri Gudkov was visiting the camp, and wanted to speak at the assembly. However he was totally surprised, that his status as a deputy did not implied any privilegies, and he was asked to raise his hand and wait for his turn. Deputy preferred to leave the camp.

As we already wrote, during the day 14th of May authorities attempted to close camp by using park workers from local administration of the municipality, with a pretext of renovating the grass. Camp participators moved their property from the grass, but returned in the evening. Photos of local people prove, that grass around the statute of Kubai was trampled a long time before the protest camp was established. However camp participators announced that they may repair the grass on their own, and necessary funds for that were already raised.

Activists of Autonomous Action distributed special issue of the  paper "Situatsiya" and  leaflets.

Some songs of Arkadi in youtube: http://youtu.be/kMj0aZhsLaA, http://youtu.be/FhLNnEgwdP4






Schedule for tomorrow 15th of May:


Online translation from the camp:
http://оккупайабай.рф/t/

Updates in Russian:
http://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/56718.html (15 мая), http://www.novayagazeta.ru/news/56685.html (14 мая)

Updates from other Russian cities: России: http://www.ikd.ru/node/18262
Contact address for those, willing to come to camp: occupytogether12@gmail.com
Contact number for anarchists: 8-985-247-20-65 (Autonomous Action of Moscow)

Russian protests: thousands march in support of Occupy Abay camp

About 15,000 people join march through Moscow in solidarity with anti-Putin sit-in, which is entering second week

• Miriam Elder in Moscow
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 May 2012

Protesters marched from Pushkin Square to the Chistye Prudy metro station in Moscow. Photograph: Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images

 

There's a guitar and kazoo player under a tree on a leafy Moscow boulevard, singing squeaky songs of revolution. Under another, three men gather for an impromptu game of chess, their jackets and hats adorned with the white ribbons that have become the symbol of those protesting against Vladimir Putin. A sign says a lecture on the lessons of Egypt's Tahrir Square will begin at 6pm.
For nearly a week, hundreds of Russians have camped out at Chistye Prudy, a boulevard in the centre of Moscow whose name translates as Clean Ponds. Inspired in style by the global Occupy movement, but fed in substance by the growing anger at Putin's return to power, the protest is the clearest sign yet that opposition to Russia's leader refuses to go away.

"We can't live like this any more," said Nina Panteleyeva, a 63-year-old French teacher. "Everything is falling apart – the schools don't teach, the hospitals don't heal, the courts don't deliver justice."
Panteleyeva was one of 15,000 Russians that took to the streets of Moscow on Sunday for a march in support of the camp, nicknamed Occupy Abay after the statue of a 19th-century Kazakh poet that is the anchor of the sit-in.

The crowd erupted into applause when passing cars honked in solidarity. They wore white ribbons and carried white flowers. Refraining from shouting slogans or carrying anti-Putin signs, police left them alone.

Yet, through it all ran a shiver of fear. "Of course we're scared," said Lena Sokolovskaya, a 40-year-old designer. "We live in such a country where at any moment we can be crushed."
After violently cracking down on protests last week during Putin's inauguration for his third term as president, riot police have been called back. They had arrested hundreds in the span of four days as protesters wandered from square to square before settling down at Chistye Prudy.

The opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who helped launch the Occupy Abay movement, remains in jail on a 15-day sentence for disobeying police. His co-hort Sergei Udaltsov, a far-left leader, is also in jail and has gone on hunger strike. Supporters worry they could face longer sentences as the Kremlin seeks to clamp down on the movement.

Putin has remained silent on the protests since his inauguration. His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has said riot police acted "too softly" when they violently broke up a thousands-strong protest on the eve of the event. Ilya Ponomaryov, an opposition Duma deputy, said Peskov told him the protesters should "have their livers smeared on the sidewalk for injuring riot police". Peskov has refused to deny the phrase, saying only that Ponomaryov's publicising of a private conversation was "not manly".

 

Anti-Putin protesters at Chistye Prudy. Photograph: Sergey Ponomarev/AP 

  For now, the atmosphere at Occupy Abay remains one of hippy calmness. Groups of protesters break into song. Others form a drum circle. There are teenagers and pensioners, women with children, men with white ribbons tied into their beards.

"It's a huge number of people, happy and smiling people without a drop of aggression," said Lyudmila Ulitskaya, one of Russia's best-known novelists. "I'd call it the birth of civil society, which we in Russia have always had such a hard time with."

Ulitskaya and several other writers and poets had called for Russians to join Sunday's march. Boris Akunin, a novelist and protest organiser, told the crowd: "The point of this walk is simple. We have to teach the authorities to deal with their people politely and with respect, not via sticks or the police."

Strangers struck up political discussions. Struggling poets read their work to small crowds. One man walked by and shouted into his telephone: "I've realised what Moscow wants! Not a KGB president, but a writer-president, like Vaclav Havel."

Vladimir Nikipolsky, a taxi driver and poet, said: "The intelligentsia has woken up. We can no longer live under feudalism."

As evening fell on Moscow, many of the protesters faded away, but hundreds stayed behind ready to sleep on yoga mats and wake up to the camp's second week. A white board on a platform announced events in the days to come: lectures on the workers' struggle, followed by a priest's discussion on the church's attitude towards the jailed punk band Pussy Riot.

"I have a feeling of cyclicity," said Ilya Bezrukov, head of a Moscow museum focused on Russia's many revolutions. "You see what they were demanding 100 years ago and we have the same problems today. But this protest shows we've broken the cycle of bloodletting. It's our victory not theirs."

Moscow: Bloody sunday. "March of Millions" and the Anarchists (Photos/Video)

Police apprehended more than 3 hundred people, including at least 30 anarchists
08 Мая 2012 Anarcho News

On the 6th of May, a lot of anarchists took part in almost all events which occured in Moscow. There was a peaceful march from Kaluzhskаja to Bolotnaja square, after that it became clear that the entrance was forbidden for people, protesting against the inauguration of Putin. The anarchists were in the front line, took an active part in fights with police, throwing at them bottles, umbrellas, sticks, asphalt pieces, smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails.

Following that, anarchists tented and didn’t let displace them from the square.

To build the barricades the anarchists used metal cordons and even biotoilets. The most active protesters were arrested, however, some of them managed to rescue from the policemen.
The both sides had the wounded, a part of whom were hospitalized.

Despite the fact that the police were able to divide 100,000 of protesters into small groups and extrude them either out of Bolotnaja Square and the opposite side of the Obvodnyj channel, many anarchists as well as hundreds of other participants were left standing on the Small Moskvoretsky Bridge and later they started a new procession down the Bolchaja Ordynka street.

The movement on the streets was stopped by the police. Media reported that a spontaneous demonstration at the beginning of the Bolchaja Tatarskaja Street and then blocked near the Tretyakov Gallery was organized by about 2 000 people.

However, about 200-300 people came to police station 'Yakimanka" where the detainees were kept. Almost at midnignt, the protesters were kicked out from there, most active of them were re-arrested.
Police apprehended more than 3 hundred people, including at least 30 anarchists.
According to preliminary data of the police, the total number of detainees rose at 450, while 11 participants and about 30 policemen wounded, including knife wounds. Law enforcement agencies reported, three policemen got a head injury, two - split chins and 7 policemen suffered from the gaz sprays.

At the police stations detainees were being bitten, an ambulance took from “Meshchansky” station three participants. The interrogations of injured have been already started in hospitals.
The prosecutor's office launched criminal cases under article "Calls for the riot" and "Violence against  representatives of authority", nevertheless, the violence inflicted by police was legal.
All the detainees are to face Article 19.3 of the Administrative Code (disobeying a lawful order of a police officer), according to the laws, they can be arrested for 15 days. Most of the activists spent the night in police stations. It is also reported of the allegations against some protesters referring to Articles Part 3. 212 of the Criminal Code - “Calls for the riot”, and Part 1 of Art. 318 of the Criminal Code - "Violence against  representatives of authority"

According to police, "March of Millions" gathered about 8000 people. Some opposition members claim that here were about 100 thousand people. But 20,000 participants seem to be most realistic.
Let us remind that the large-scale protests started in Moscow in December after the falsification of parliamentary election results, and went on following the presidential election on March 4. The Russian opposition movement consists of several groups. On Sunday, May 6, demonstrators with (hanging) black and red flags cooperated with representatives of the Libertarian Party of Russia, and Russian Orthodox monarchists walked with people who have the portraits of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara in their hands.

But they all were united by an aversion to the perspective of Vladimir Putin’s return in the Kremlin for another 12 years.

Video:

Scared policeman on the 6th of May.

His helmet was riped out and thrown away, people knocked him down and start to beat

This is the moment when he cried to his friends- "Guys, help me!" with  the fear in his eyes

Photos:

Anarchists In "March of Millions"

Перевод с русского на английский: Лера Иванова