Lyubov Lizunova, the 17 year old anarchist accused of terrorism for a graffiti, had her preventive measures tightened on April 11 from house arrest to pre-trial detention. This was announced in a letter sent to another accused in the case, the anarchist Alexander Snezhkov. “Lyuba was also arrested. She will finish tenth grade in a preventive detention center,” Snezhkov wrote from pre-trial detention in Chita, far Eastern Russia. According to a relative of Lyubov, she violated the house arrest regime and arrived home two hours late.
According to OVD-Info, Snezhkov and Lizunova are being persecuted for a “Death to the Regime” graffiti, and accused of “approving” the arson of military registration and recruitment offices. They were detained on January 12 or 13 in Irkutsk and Omsk. The criminal case was opened against these young people under three articles at once: incitement to terrorist activities (Article 205.2 of the Penal Code), extremism (Article 280 of the Penal code), and vandalism motivated by political hatred (Part 2 of Article 214 of the Penal Code). Vladislav Vishnevsky is also involved in the case; in October last year he was included in the Rosfinmonitoring “extremist list”, where Snezhkov and Lizunova have been registered since 2022. Security officials say Snezhkov tried to leave Russia.
Since February 2022, more than 850 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protest and direct action against the war with Ukraine.
In August last year, Novosibirsk resident Dmitry Kozlov was searched as part of this case. He was asked whether he provided assistance to Snezhkov “in his illegal movement”. His belongings were confiscated, and during the interrogation that followed the search, he was told that the Anarchist Black Cross was “sponsored by Ukraine”. The investigators also complained that their work was hard, their wives were leaving them, and they didn’t like the “special operation.” One of the investigators “suggested hitting [Kozlov] in the face with a folder” and was interested in hitchhiking.
After the interrogation, Kozlov was “taken to see” other people detained on the same day: they turned out to be a transgender woman (presumably Mira Lushchaeva, detained in the case of the anti-war telegram channel) and her girlfriend. Kozlov was told that if he performs a sexual act with them he will not be imprisoned. The man refused, after which he was released as a witness.
On its telegram channel, Anarchist Black Cross Irkutsk published addresses of the prisoners.
~ Uri Gordon
