Miftakhov’s case: Will a boycott follow?

I will assume that scientists, journalists, students, activists gathered on 01/18/2021 at the building of the Golovinsky Court of Moscow, where, on the second attempt, they voiced the sentence of 27-year-old mathematics Azat Miftakhov, did not lose hope for the prudence of the authorities. Indeed, the letters of the leading mathematicians of the world [ 1 ], [ 2 ], and the appeal of more than 50 academicians, members of the Khriks and professors of the Russian Academy of Sciences to the chairman of the Golovinsky Court [ 3 ] called for a kind of “draw” - immediately the release of Azat, taking into account the time that he had already served in jail. But the authorities, without thinking about the reputation of the judicial system in Russia, or the fate of the upcoming International Mathematical Congress in 2022 in St. Petersburg, sentenced Miftakhov to six years in prison in a general regime colony.

When Judge Sergey Bazarov read the text of the sentence (Article 213, part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), his hands were shaking, he was hot, the courtroom window was open despite –20 ° C outside the window. The day before, preparing the society for the conviction, the "devastated" videos showed the state -owned guiders. The program “Chernukhoy” “The duty of the attendant part” for “Russia-1” also went through the “Chernukhi” case in Azatu. “As a self-taught demoliser was preparing for big pogroms”-the so-called plot [ 4 ]. “Who was intended for the bomb and how the security forces managed to stop the experimenter in time,” promise promise to tell the audience, not telling the audience about what mathematics actually accuse, not mentioning that accusations of any extremist actions (the manufacture of explosive devices, etc.) were not submitted at the time of sentence in the Golovinsky court.

Instead of a story about a real case with a smoke saber thrown into the window of the United Russia office, the audience saw a six -minute plot, tailored according to the convenient patterns of Goebbels propaganda. For example, it claims that Azat tried to hide and bought a train ticket to Belarus. An interesting detail: the ticket was purchased when Azat was already detained and he did not have access to the Internet. A bunch of anarchist literature was found in Miftakhov’s room at Moscow State University, from Peter Kropotkin to Hannah Arendt, while not one of the books is prohibited in Russia. But they are represented by the viewers how, I quote, “extremist literature with detailed instructions” (the analysis of this part of the lies with a story about each of the “Russia” covers of books for some reason, see books [ 5 ]).

Why were Miftakhov sentenced to six years in prison? The accusation against Azat is built on the fact that he was a well -read and ideological anarchist, and his friends promoted the “denial of political power”. The main point of the prosecution is as follows: at night 01/30/2018 Six activists carried out a hooligan act. Elena Gorban (born in 1992) broke the window of the Moscow Office of United Russia in Khovrino (Onezhskaya St., 53, building 4), and Alexei Kobaidze expanded the opening formed on the glass, lit a smoke bomb and threw it into the room. Andrei Yokin (born in 1986) shot what was happening on a video camera. Then the video recording of the action “Anarchists transmit the greetings of United Russia” was posted on the Internet (“VKontakte”, etc.). Three other guys (two guys and one girl) watched what was happening, according to the investigation, one of them was Miftakhov. The damage from a broken window amounted to no more than 50 thousand rubles.

Both Gorban and Ekin confessed to the deed and testified in court that there was no Azat on the action. Judge Bazarov gave them four and two years, respectively. Kobaidze at preliminary interrogations spoke about his actions, the actions of Gorban, Yeum and another participant in the action - a young man with the nickname Grothendieck 22–25 years old, with blond hair and a height of about 185 cm (the investigation believes that it was mythtachs). However, when conducting an identification, Kobaidze as a member of Miftakhov did not recognize. In October 2019, Kobaidze left Russia [ 6 ]. As you can see, none of the three participants of the action against the ER office established by the investigation was confirmed by Azat.

Evgenia Sergeeva, who participated in the above campaign with the EP office, as an anarchist received asylum in France. She was detained, then released, and she left Russia [ 7 ]. It is reported that the anarchist Svyatoslav Rechkalov also left the country, whom they tried to force to confess to participation in the promotion against the EP office [ 8 ].

However, in the case were two classified witnesses, one of which, with Nick Petrov, did not live to interrogate in court by a strange coincidence (died of heart injury 15.01.2020). It was he who allegedly accidentally saw Azat at night in the courtyard of the EP office during the action 01/30/2018, remembered his face well and then found out when he saw in the plot on TV, and in February 2019 he came to testify to the investigation. For a year, he could not call the police, he could not come, because he had a mobile phone discharged, and then what he saw flew out of his head (!). According to his version, just Azat managed this action, giving commands to other participants. But he did not even remember those who beat the window or stood with a smoke saber. When asked by the lawyer, why only Azat attracted his attention from all the guys, Petrov answered this: “Miftakhov has a very expressive appearance, facial features, namely eyebrows. They are very well remembered. ” At the same time, Petrov showed that there was a hood on Azat (you can read the confrontation protocol yourself [ 9 ]).

Miftakhova’s lawyer Svetlana Sidorkina in the debate noted that the investigation could not check the testimony of a secret witness at the EP office, because it would have to be concluded that it was impossible to observe the events at a distance of 10-15 m [ 10 ]. Judge Bazarov did not give any critical assessment of the very opportunity to identify a person in a hood, if he saw him with a dark January night in the yard. Although this is a key certificate on which the accusation against Azat is based. (The assumptions of the “mediazones” about who was the main secret witness, giving at the right time the testimonies of the Azat case necessary, and in what other loud business he could play the main role, see [ 11 ]).

Another secret witness, with the nickname Karaulol, more than once met, in his own words, with Miftakhov on protests and spoke about his activity as an anarchist. The verdict also gives the FSB information that the Azat was a moderator of the Levoradical Anarchist Movement "Narodnaya Self-Defense", took part in protests (including in 2016 promotions against raising travel prices, in Kuskovo Park against the construction of northeastern chords, against unfair commercial organizations, etc.). The document read out by judge Bazarov also states that in 2017-2018, Azat organized shares against the torture of the FSB with the slogans “FSB tortures, NTV covers” and others.

An aggravating circumstance was that Azat was already judged by a criminal article. He was sentenced by the Tver court of Moscow to a fine of 45 thousand for the use of violence to a police officer (part 1 of article 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The mathematician received this punishment for the hooligan act: 05/20/2017 at 4 in the morning he walked with three comrades in the city center, the guys tried to damage the camera of external video surveillance on the street. 3rd Tverskaya-Yamskaya. Their actions attracted the attention of the police patrol crew, and two guys, trying to run away, burst out to the policeman in the face of gas cans. Azat did this after a comrade. After public apologies to the police and reconciliation of the parties to Miftakhs and another participant in this action, R. Levchenko, was finalized. The verdict of 03/27/2018 after the appeal in the Moscow City Court entered into force on 06/20/2018 [ 12 ].

The moment of the verdict for the side of protection is the protocol of the search for the Azat room in Moscow State University, in which they allegedly found a jar of aluminum powder and the remains of powder with signs of explosives. In relation to the seized items, a study was scheduled at the FSB Institute of Forensics, world -famous thanks to the investigation of the poisoning of Alexei Navalny. Experts from this institute “accidentally” accompanied the policy on his trips to Russia, and in August 2020 he was poisoned. Svetlana Sidorkina, in a commentary on the TRV-hunger, noted that the side of the defense is unknown how the FSB held its operational-search measures (Orm) in the Azat room. In the materials of the criminal case, there is no protocol for inspection of the dormitory room of Moscow State University dated 01/18/2019. By the decision of the Constitutional Court, without proper registration, the results of the ORM cannot be recognized as evidence and must be excluded from the case.

When Azat was detained with several other activists in February 2019, he was tortured. Their traces on the body of the young man were discovered by members of the Public Supervisory Commission (PMC) of the Moscow Region, who visited the graduate student in the temporary detention center (IVS) of Balashikha. “He has injuries on his body, on his neck. I saw traces of torture with a screwdriver. Now this place was smeared with green, ”the human rights activist Valery Borshchev quotes the site Newsru.com [ 13 ]. There it is also reported that the presence of bodily harm was confirmed by the medical report of the Central District Hospital and the IVS protocol. Azat said that he was also beaten to get the right testimony. Just after these torture, he made an attempt to commit suicide and opened the veins. In the plot of “Russia”, viewers see a very strange Azat with tied brushes, just after everything described above. Thanks to the stamina of Miftakhov and the actions of human rights activists, the theme of explosives was (temporarily?) Fores, and the security forces focused on proved that he participated in the action against the "EP". And they achieved a conviction.

Svetlana Sidorkina in the debate settled in detail on why it was Azat that ended up on the bench of the defendants, and analyzed the “evidence” presented by the investigation [ 10 ]. Miftakhov himself in his last word in court stated that he was an activist of the anarchist movement, participated in protests, and was engaged in the fight against apartment raiders. “All this was the reason for the revenge of the employees of the Center for Combating Extremism, which ultimately led to the fabrication of this process.” He, to the horror of his lawyer, supported the action against the EP office: “We all know that the EP party is not widely loved by our people. Therefore, I believe that for this you can only reward those who participated in this action ”[ 14 ].

Six years of imprisonment to a young scientist ... These figures cannot but frighten. Azat has been in imprisonment for almost two years, from 02.02.2019, and it remains to sit for three more years (one day in the pre -trial detention center is counted as a day and a half in the colony one and a half). The scientific community believes that Azat completely paid non -freedom for those actions that they blame him (with very shaky evidence), and he must be released. On the eve of the verdict, words were already heard about the possible boycott of the International Mathematical Congress in St. Petersburg in the summer of 2022, if the political persecution of mathematician anarchist will not be stopped, mathematics wrote a letter about this forum organizers [ 15 ]. Now, after the announcement of a cruel sentence, this position will receive additional argumentation. At the time of preparation of the article, more than 110 scientists signed a petition for the boycott of MMK [ 16 ].

Natalia Demina
Photo by the author

Mikhail Tamm, physicist, associate professor of Moscow State University:

I have, perhaps, three considerations. First. The verdict of Azat Miftakhov is overwhelmed by his ridiculous cruelty. Even if you agree with the court in everything and believe that the guilt of the accused has been proved (which is doubtful) is the zero of the victims and the damage of 43 thousand rubles, about 150 rubles per person who stood on the day of the sentence before the court. 15 days of arrest and compensation for damage - this is the maximum that the sane court in such a case could have awarded. But the court is defiantly insane.

Second. In the case of Azat there was a fairly great noise from the Russian and international scientific community. At the same time, it would seem that this business for our authorities should have been third. Here we are not even about some imaginary espionage, etc. But the authorities demonstrate that they wanted to chew on our opinion. And we should treat the Russian state, respectively. The scientific community has a few opportunities to do something sensitively unpleasant for the authorities. But we all need to seriously think about finding these places.

At a minimum, it is quite obvious that the International Mathematical Congress in St. Petersburg is an image significant for the authorities. Without a doubt, if Azat continues to sit, this forum should not take place. To explain to colleagues that the boycott of this event is absolutely necessary is now our general responsibility. But I think that you need to think about other possible such steps.

Third. The case of Azat shows what risks a young scientist who has a civil consciousness is exposed in Russia today. I do not want to urge anyone to leave Russia, but I’m sure that the young guys who decide where to live, study and make a career must remember these risks. The current authorities do not need young scientists in Russia, they are ready to send any too smart to prison for nothing. And this must be understood.

Mikhail Lobanov, mathematician, teacher of Moscow State University and member of the University Solidarity trade union:

I am very concerned about the fact that in the spring of 2019, in a pre-trial detention center, the unvaccent operatives threatened Azatu to organize hell in the zone if he did not make up any people.

We must continue to try to free Miftakhov, because This may well be just a matter of survival. In addition, after the transfer of Azat from Moscow, where he is now under the supervision of members of the PMC and other human rights defenders, we must increase the flow of letters to him. This is a commonplace issue of his safety. Experienced political prisoners say that this reduces the risks of reprisals against it.

1. Letter of the President of the American Mathematical Society, Jill Piper ( ams.orgs/ pipherltr.miftakhov01-05-21.pdf)
2. Letter of French mathematicians ( TRV-SCIENCE.ru/MATEMATIKI-FRANCII-VYSTUPILI-V-PODDERZHKU-AZATA-MIFTAXOVA/ )
3. Letter of academicians, member scores and professors of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the liberation of Miftakhov ( TRV-SCIENCE.ru/2021/01/Free-Azat-letter-RS/ )
4. www.vesti.ru/video/2258867
5. www.facebook.com/sofiko.arifjanova/posts/2187630008037708
6. echo.msk.ru/news/2523425-echo.html
7. zona.media/news/2020/01/15/sergeeva
8. zona.media/article/2018/03/15/rechkalov
9. The testimony of "Petrova" and its confrontation with the azat (telegra.ph/materialy-dla-2312-12-24 )
10. Speech by lawyer S. Sidorkina in the debate (Telegra.ph/preniya-advokat-asvetlana-sidorkina-01–05 )
11. zona.media/article/2020/10/13/witness
12. Bit.ly/3qrwber (the first case of A. Miftakhov’s first case on the Tver court)
13. www.newsru.com/russia/05FEB2019/MIFTAHOVTORT.HTML
14. Last word A. Miftakhov ( Telegra.ph/poslednee-slovo-azata-miftahova-12-28 )
15. TherussianReader. COM/2021/01/04/Azat-Miftakhov-Open-Older-International-Congress-Mathematics/
16. www.icm2022Boycott.org/