Anarchists sentenced by Putin

Russian anarchists sentenced by Putin regime



Two anarchists involved in a group known as Set (Network) have received long prison sentences on June 22nd in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The regime run by secret policeman Putin which we name as the Chekocracy (1) from now on, sentenced Viktor Filinkov to 7 years and Yury Boyarshinov to 5 ½ years prison on fabricated charges of belonging to a terrorist group.

Thirty people who demonstrated outside against the show trial were arrested by police. One demonstrator who chanted “Let them go!” and “FSB (Federal Security Service, the secret police) is the main terrorist!” was handcuffed.

The trial began in February. Boyarshinov pleaded guilty, saying that he did not know that Set was a terrorist group when he joined it. Filinkov rejected the charges, saying that his initial guilty plea was given under duress.

In February seven other members of the group were sentenced in Penza to a total of 86 years. Some were tortured to gain confessions. The FSB allege a network with cells in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Penza, and Omsk, as well as in neighbouring Belarus. The Belarusian authorities have stated that they were unaware of such a cell in their country. Amnesty International has called the charges: “a figment of the Russian security services’ imagination… fabricated in an attempt to silence these activists.”

Putin is scared of any opposition to his regime and some of his first victims are anarchists.

You can:

• Donate money to the Anarchist Black Cross in Moscow 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
• Organize solidarity events where you live to raise money and awareness for 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 #support” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>here.
• Share news stories across social networks beyond Russia.
• 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.

(1) The Cheka were Lenin’s murderous secret police, who went through various name changes, NKVD, OGPU, KGB, etc. before ending up as today’s FSB. Putin was a leading official in the KGB