Members of the Public Monitoring Committee were not allowed into the prison hospital to visit Viktor Filinkov, a defendant in the “Network” case.

In St. Petersburg, members of the Public Monitoring Committee were not allowed to see Viktor Filinkov, a defendant in the “Network” case, who was hospitalized on November 5 at the Gaaz prison hospital. This was reported in the RUPRESSION telegram channel.

Hospital staff refused to allow POC members Anastasia Nekozakova and Elena Shakhova to visit Filinkov, citing the fact that he was kept in a separate room in the infectious diseases department. According to the employees, access to Filinkov is impossible until the doctors prepare documents on his diagnosis. Observers were shown Filinkov's statement refusing the hunger strike.

Filinkov was hospitalized on November 5 due to suspected jaundice. On October 30, the day of remembrance of the victims of political repression, he went on a hunger strike in a pre-trial detention center as a sign of solidarity with political prisoners. Lawyer Vitaly Cherkasov was denied access to his client for two days.

• According to investigators, “Network” is a terrorist organization, which allegedly has cells in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Penza and Belarus. In total, 11 anarchists and anti-fascists from St. Petersburg and Penza are involved in the case. The investigation believes that community members were preparing terrorist attacks in Russia in order to raise an armed rebellion. The defendants in the Network case talked about psychological pressure, electric shock torture and weapons that FSB officers planted on them. Some of them refused to confess and said that they gave them under torture.
• Anti-fascist Viktor Filinkov was arrested in January. He 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. Victor said that one of the FSB officers who tortured him threatened that if he refused to confess, the anti-fascist would go to another region “in a car with specialists.”