Moscow, 30 March 2024 (WAI): Mass searches targeting artists and activists have stirred concern in Russia, particularly following the reported incidents on Tuesday.
The investigative actions are believed to be linked to a case of treason involving former Pussy Riot member and Mediazona publisher Pyotr Verzilov. This development came as a surprise since there had been no public disclosure of Verzilov facing treason charges before this.
Search operations were conducted across various cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanovsk, and Samara. In Moscow, searches were conducted at the residences of Verzilov’s mother and Pussy Riot members Rita Flores, Olga Kuracheva, and Olga Pakhtusova.
According to Network Freedoms, some of these searches were reportedly authorized by the Lefortovo Court of Moscow as part of the treason investigation.
In St. Petersburg, individuals targeted included Kristina Bubentsova, a participant in the “Party of the Dead” art project, and artists Katrin Nenasheva and Natasha Chetverio. Nenasheva was briefly detained for questioning, later revealed to be related to the Verzilov case.
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Similar scenarios unfolded in Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Ulyanovsk, where artists Ilya Mozgi, Artyom Filatov, Andrei Olenev, and Egor Kholtov were subjected to searches and interrogations, with some being released as witnesses in the Verzilov case, as reported by Doxa.
Additional searches targeted members of the St. Petersburg art group “Yav” and artist Sasha Blot, with all police inquiries revolving around Verzilov, as stated by participants to RBC.
In Samara, artist Denis Mustafin’s residence was searched, with his mother’s computer being confiscated, as disclosed by Mustafin to OVD-Info.
Heightened Concerns Amidst Ongoing Investigations
Verzilov’s involvement in a treason case wasn’t public knowledge until now. In a previous interview with Yuri Dudu in October 2023, Verzilov admitted to serving in the Ukrainian army since at least 2022.
Verzilov, a dual citizen of Russia and Canada, had left Moscow in 2020. The Moscow City Court recently ordered a review of his case under charges related to spreading false information about the Russian army, with a previous sentence of 8.5 years for posts about killings in Bucha. Russian courts typically dismiss reports contradicting the Ministry of Defense’s narrative on the Ukraine conflict as falsehoods.
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