Russian state tortures mathematician

On February 1, 2019, the Russian mathematical community was shocked by monstrous news: Azat Miftakhov, a graduate student of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University, who studies stochastic processes, was detained in Moscow in connection with suspicions of manufacturing explosives. Several other people were detained with him, including Daniil Galkin, who later spoke about how a confession was forced out of him under torture and forced to cooperate with the investigation. Almost immediately information began to arrive that Miftakhov was being threatened with torture. Once in the department, Miftakhov tried to commit suicide - as it later turned out, precisely because he was afraid of torture.

Later, the fact of torture was confirmed by Azat’s lawyer, Svetlana Sidorkina, and members of the Public Monitoring Committee, but, despite official confirmation, no one was brought to justice, and when Miftakhov, with the permission of the judge, spoke about torture, the prosecutor interrupted him and stated that this was not relevant, and removed the question. Thus, the blatant fact of violation of human rights remained completely unnoticed by the state.

When on February 7 the court was obliged to choose a measure of restraint for Miftakhov and present data proving the need for arrest, Azat was suddenly released. However, upon leaving the temporary detention center, he was immediately detained again, this time in the case of a broken window in the United Russia office, which was initiated a year ago. Previously, the suspects did not recognize Azat.

Already on February 9, out of nowhere, a secret witness in a mask appeared in the case under the pseudonym Petrov, allegedly recognizing Miftakhov as a participant in the action. Petrov stated that he identified the activist by his “expressive eyebrows,” but could not indicate what Miftakhov was wearing and did not remember the other defendants in the case. In addition, the man explained that he did not report the crime for a year because first his phone died and then he was unable to do so. According to the witness, he decided to contact the police after information about Miftakhov’s detention appeared in the media.

Based solely on this evidence, on February 12, the Golovinsky District Court of Moscow arrested the graduate student for another month, despite personal guarantees from State Duma deputy O. Shein, president of the KTR trade union association B. Kravchenko and Skoltech professor M. Finkelberg. During the meeting, Miftakhov stated that he did not participate in the action with the broken window and denied his guilt.

Despite the circumstances in which Azat found himself, he does not forget about science: at the first meeting with the lawyer he asked only for a pen and paper, and among the list of books that he first asked from the pre-trial detention center are “The Theory of Random Processes” and “Fokker Equations - Planck - Kolmogorov", as well as personal lecture notes.

The immediate reaction from the general public to such obviously repressive actions of the authorities against only the suspect Azat was expressed in the form of an open letter in his support, which appeared on February 2 on the DOXA magazine website, when alarming reports of torture and cut veins from detainees began to arrive. Among those who signed the letter are the Chairman of the Moscow Mathematical Society, Academician Viktor Vasiliev, Academician Sergei Konyagin and many other stars of domestic and world mathematics. Eminent non-mathematical scientists, such as biologist Mikhail Gelfand and world-famous American linguist Noam Chomsky, also expressed their solidarity.

In addition to scientists, a huge number of students and graduate students - both mathematical and technical specialties, and any other - expressed their support. Apparently, they feel especially keenly: anyone could be in Azat’s place.

The letter was also signed by people outside the academic community who also sympathize with Azat and are not afraid to say so openly: teachers and schoolchildren, businessmen and journalists, housekeepers and conscript soldiers.

What do they all have in common? Of course, respect for science. But much more important is intolerance of violence and the desire for justice, which we can achieve only together and through the direct participation of everyone.

Rodion Deev,
Anna Dmitrieva,
Vasily Rogov