Debunking a stereotype about political prisoners

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There is a stereotype that the current political prisoners are exclusively activists and creative people. Allegedly ordinary people are not among them, since they are not up to it. But in fact, this is not so. For example, among officially included by the Memorial in the list of political prisoners there is a sortone of the Novosibirsk medical college Daniil Berdyugin. Last year, he was sentenced to six years in a maximum security colony for preparation for GOSISMENT. According to acquaintances and relatives, in 2022 he independently went to the Russian-Ukrainian border as a nurse. Nobody knows for certain to whom and how he planned to provide assistance. But he was arrested on the border. Even before the war, he met on the Internet with a resident of Kyiv, they played together in an online group, sometimes corresponded. Relatives believe that this correspondence actually served as evidence that Daniel tried to carry out state treason. And his whole criminal case is called the "demonstration execution" for everyone else.

The Memorial also recognized the political prisoner of the crane operator of 23-year-old Andrei Petrauskas. On October 3, 2022, in Krasnoyarsk, he threw two bottles with incendiary mixture into the building of the local military registration and enlistment office, which hit the outer window frame. According to human rights activists, in this way he tried to interfere with the mobilization of the population. A fire, which did not cause significant damage, was immediately extinguished by the police officers on duty. Petrauskas disappeared, but a few days later he was detained. At first, the FSB charged him with attempted attempted terrorist attack. After the prosecution was re -qualified, declaring the actions of the young man with a terrorist attack. Damage to the military registration and enlistment office was estimated at 28 thousand rubles, the man compensated him for him at the investigation stage. The military court sentenced Andrei to 10 years in prison, of which he should spend the first 2.5 years in prison, the rest of the term in a maximum security colony.

Another political prisoner is a 15-year-old schoolboy Arseniy Turbin from the Oryol region. He was sentenced to five years in the educational colony for laying out leaflets depicting Putin and the signature of "Do you need such a president?" On the mailboxes of neighbors. According to investigators, the teenager did this by order of the Ukrainian legion prohibited in the Russian Federation. Turbin recognized the fact of distribution, but stated that he acted, "guided by his beliefs, and not by someone’s instructions." According to human rights activists, the investigation could not prove the connection between the student and the legion, nevertheless, this did not prevent the court from making a conviction under the article on participation in a terrorist organization.

In August of this year, the prosecutor's office in court requested two years a colony for a 70-year-old pensioner Anastasia Gordienko from the Omsk region. She was charged with "discrediting the army" for comments in Odnoklassniki. For example, there are such quotes from social networks in the prosecution of her criminal case: "Yes, I want Ukraine to victory over fascism, so what?" And "it has long been known that Pukin did with his own over the army in Ukraine." At the meetings, a pensioner Gordienko became ill. She was called by doctors due to high pressure. The court found the pensioner guilty, however, he was condescending and sentenced him to a quarter one and a half years.

So political prisoners in Russia can be absolutely any age, gender, education and kind of activity. Here the question is only in sanity and courage.