Fontanka: FSB admitted using a stun gun on anti-fascist Viktor Filinkov

The online publication Fontanka writes that FSB operatives interviewed by the Investigative Committee stated that they used stun guns on detained anti-fascists, not for torture, but for “official needs.”

According to the publication, employees of the service began to be questioned because of a complaint about torture by anti-fascist and programmer Viktor Filinkov. The FSB admitted that it used a stun gun on Filinkov. Allegedly, the programmer resisted and tried to escape, and “nothing other than shockers could stop him.”

9 days after the injuries were inflicted (Filinkov was detained on January 24, the Public Monitoring Committee visited him on February 2), members of the Public Monitoring Commission recorded 33 marks on the anti-fascist’s body from shocker strikes, noting that some had already disappeared.

The report says that a medical examination (which one is not specified in the news) “showed that the FSB officers did not cause harm to the suspect’s health.”

Fontanka notes that the Investigative Committee has upgraded the status of complaints about torture of those involved in the St. Petersburg “Network” case and transferred them to the department for investigating particularly important cases of the military investigation department of the Investigative Committee for the Western Military District.

• Anti-fascist Viktor Filinkov is accused of participating in the terrorist organization “Network” (Part 2 of Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code). According to the FSB, its participants were preparing for the outbreak of unrest in the country. Filinkov admitted guilt, but later stated that he did it under torture. Members of the Public Monitoring Commission of St. Petersburg recorded numerous traces of burns from a stun gun on the anti-fascist’s body. Businessman Igor Shishkin is involved in the same case; he did not report torture, but the Public Monitoring Committee also recorded injuries on his body. Investigative actions in St. Petersburg were authorized by one of the district courts of Penza.
• In October 2017, five people were arrested in Penza. They were accused of participating in a terrorist community. According to the FSB, the young people participated in an organization called “Network,” which allegedly has cells in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Penza and Belarus. Those involved in the terrorism case in Penza talked about psychological pressure, electric shock torture, “hanging upside down” and weapons that FSB officers planted on them.
• One of the witnesses in the case in St. Petersburg also spoke about torture. He left Russia and asked for political asylum in Finland.
• “Don’t worry, I haven’t started yet” is a detailed story by anti-fascist Viktor Filinkov about detention and torture by the FSB, published on Mediazona.