No Justice, No Peace: Petersburg’s Kangaroo Courts Revisited

Courtesy of Telegram
channel Angry Defender (Zlaya Zashchitnitsa)

Reporters Kicked Out of Dzerzhinsky District Court
Zaks.ru
October 19, 2018

Reporters and people who have come to support the accused have been
kicked out of Petersburg’s Dzerzhinsky District Court, where Network
case suspect Igor Shishkin’s custody extension hearing is currently
underway. Court bailiffs have explained the decision was dictated by the
court’s shortened working day, our correspondent reports.

Today, the Dzerzhinsky District Court has already held two custody
extension hearings involving suspects in the Network case. Viktor
Filinkov and Yuli Boyarshinov were again remanded in custody until
January 22, 2019. The hearings took place in closed chambers. Only
reporters and relatives of the suspects were allowed to go up to the
floor in the courthouse where the courtroom is located. Court bailiffs
forced the men’s supporters to stay on the first floor.

When Mr. Boyarshinov was led away after hearing the court’s ruling,
friends and activists who had come to support him sang a song by the
group Truckdrivers on the first floor of the courthouse.

We don’t want freedom in handcuffs.
We want crystal-clear truth.
You can ask for it on the barricades
Or trust in law and order.

Angered by the supporters’ behavior, the bailiffs detained activist
Yevgenia Kulakova and took her to their office to write her up for
violating Article 17.3 of the Administrative Offenses Code (failure to
obey a judge or court bailiff’s for maintaining order in the court).
However, civil rights activist Dinar Idrisov came to the young woman’s
aid, and the bailiffs let her off after issuing a warning.

Later, the bailiffs ordered everyone to exit the building, even the
relatives of Network case suspect Igor Shishkin, who could have been
called as witnesses. According to the bailiffs, the court was open only
until 4:45 p.m. today. It is a common practice in Petersburg courts to
kick out members of the public and reporters.

Viktor Filinkov, Yuli Boyarshinov, Igor Shiskin, and eight residents of
Penza have been accused of involvement in a “terrorist community” that
was, allegedly, planning to carry out terrorist attacks and overthrow
the Russian state. Several of the accused have claimed they were
tortured into incriminating themselves and their fellow suspects.

Translated by the Russian Reader

***************

What can you do to support the Penza and Petersburg antifascists and
anarchists tortured and imprisoned by the FSB?

Donate money to the Anarchist Black Cross via PayPal
([email protected]). Make sure to specify your donation is earmarked
for “Rupression.”
Spread the word about the Network Case aka the Penza-Petersburg
“terrorism” case. You can find more information about the case and
in-depth articles translated into English on this website (see below),
rupression.com, and openDemocracyRussia.
Organize solidarity events where you live to raise money and publicize
the plight of the tortured Penza and Petersburg antifascists. Go to the
website It’s Going Down to find printable posters and flyers you can
download. You can also read more about the case there.
If you have the time and means to design, produce, and sell solidarity
merchandise, please write to [email protected].
Write letters and postcards to the prisoners. Letters and postcards must
be written in Russian or translated into Russian. You can find the
addresses of the prisoners here.
Design a solidarity postcard that can be printed and used by others to
send messages of support to the prisoners. Send your ideas to
[email protected].
Write letters of support to the prisoners’ loved ones via
[email protected].
Translate the articles and information at rupression.com and this
website into languages other than Russian and English, and publish your
translations on social media and your own websites and blogs.
If you know someone famous, ask them to record a solidarity video, write
an op-ed piece for a mainstream newspaper or write letters to the prisoners.
If you know someone who is a print, internet, TV or radio journalist,
encourage them to write an article or broadcast a report about the case.
Write to [email protected] or the email listed on this website,
and we will be happy to arrange interviews and provide additional
information.
It is extremely important this case break into the mainstream media both
in Russia and abroad. Despite their apparent brashness, the FSB and
their ilk do not like publicity. The more publicity the case receives,
the safer our comrades will be in remand prison from violence at the
hands of prison stooges and torture at the hands of the FSB, and the
more likely the Russian authorities will be to drop the case altogether
or release the defendants for time served if the case ever does go to trial.
Why? Because the case is a complete frame-up, based on testimony
obtained under torture and mental duress. When the complaints filed by
the accused reach the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and
are examined by actual judges, the Russian government will again be
forced to pay heavy fines for its cruel mockery of justice.

Source:
https://therussianreader.com/2018/10/21/no-justice-no-peace-petersburgs-kangaroo-courts-revisited/