Translated material
Kooloschik terrorist
The 86-year-old human rights activist-disabled “for calls for terrorism” is judged on Sakhalin.
Mark Cooperman. Photo: "Sakhalin Info"
One of the oldest human rights activists of Russia is judged in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Mark Cuperman is 86 years old, almost a dozen of which he is chained to a wheelchair and needs constant care. According to the investigation, the disabled person in January 2023 through Teleagram “publicly carried out the mass mailing of an electronic document” with the title “A plan for the participation of the West in the change of regime in Russia. The humanitarian occupation ”of seven friends, and the next day, organized a public meeting at home with the participation, including human rights activist Leo Ponomarev* (online), who, in fact, sent Cuperman this“ plan ”.
The text, according to the conclusions of the Ministry of Justice expert, contained statements about the need for violent overthrowing the state system and the removal of Putin from power. At the meeting, this text was discussed, and, according to the investigator, Cooperman, "guided by the motives of political hatred and enmity," deliberately and publicly prompted those present "to the implementation of terrorist activities."
The searches of the pensioner were held last year on April 27. First, the “extremism” was charged with the stroller, but in December the charge was tightened to “calls for terrorism” (part 2 of article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and awarded a new notice.
In February 2025, a group of special speakers of the UN made a condemnation of the criminal prosecution of the Russian human rights activist. Mark Kuperman - Chairman of the Sakhalin Regional Branch of the Movement "For Human Rights" **. He worked from 1992 to 1996 by the mayor of the Okhinsky district (Okha - the city of oil workers in the north of Sakhalin). And even not for long, he was the vice-governor of economics and finance. He left the post, as they write, due to disagreement with the policy of the then head of the island region Igor Farkhutdinov.
About 15 years ago, returning from the court session, slipped, fell, damaged the spine, for a long time was in a coma. Now Cuperman is eighty -six. Galina’s wife is looking after him, she is eighty -five, and she is also disabled - the second group.
Galina reads the accusation to her husband because he sees poorly. To get acquainted with hundreds of pages of the criminal case, the investigator Rah gave Cuperman and the side of the defense for five days.
Cuperman as an active human rights activist knows well on Sakhalin. He fought for the benefits for residents of the northern regions of the island, for the rights of prisoners, for resolving the issue of housing with the affected earthquakes (many whose houses were destroyed, still did not receive anything from the state) and, even being disabled, continued to help the activists detained at rallies. Recently, I tried to initiate tracking the real level of inflation in the Sakhalin Region, filling out tables of products with other active citizens with other active citizens.
“In January 2023,” says the lawyer Natalya Kasilova, “my client was about to meet with comrades in the“ For Human Rights ”movement and discuss the following question: how to be in families where there are disagreements on his issue-someone categorically“ for ”, someone“ against ”how to work with doubters. On the eve of this meeting, Lev Ponomarev, who is now abroad, called him, and proposed to discuss the plan for the participation of the West in the improvement of Russia after his. He threw this text to Cuperman, and he sent him seven to his friends.
The next day, everyone gathered at Mark Alexandrovich at home, it still coincided with someone’s birthday (I say this to the fact that Mark Alexandrovich recognized this man yesterday as a “secret witness” and turned to him by name). We talked, discussed household issues, and Lev Ponomarev on the video call contacted them and proposed to discuss this “Western participation plan in a change of regime in Russia. Humanitarian occupation. " Well, it is clear that no one read this “plan”, because Cooperman often does a lot of mailings, and all this was regarded as another spam.
He was “listened to” for another one and a half, studied the activity (according to some reports, they wanted to impose the criminal community, and Kuperman, apparently, was an organization). In April 2024, at six in the morning to all the “conspirators”, so to speak, burst out with searches-and to our disabled person, of course, too. No one understood anything, because even in 2023, no one attached importance to this “document”, and after a year and a half and even more so. ”
Kasilova’s lawyer said that in the expert center at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, checking the text for extremism, they thought that there were no calls in it. During the interrogation, the expert corrected the testimony: overthrow, they say, is implied for violent, and this is already extremism. Nevertheless, investigators decided to do another examination.
And already in the expert center at the Ministry of Justice, the conclusion was made unequivocal: the text contains calls for the violent overthrow of power. At the same time, none of the people present at the meeting, according to the interlocutor, did not report to Cuperman - there was wiretapping in the apartment.
“The expert makes the conclusion about the presence of such calls on the basis of the presence of two words in the text:“ deputyization ”and“ overthrow, ”explains Natalya Kasilova. - And the “overthrow” is implied, according to the expert, only forced. In our business, the newsletter of the document is made in personal messages. This is not some groups. We will insist on this. The accusation, in turn, claims that at the meeting the day after the document mailing, he was discussed, and there were calls there. They have a recording of the conversation of this meeting - there was a wiretap in the apartment. We made examinations that prove that Cooperman during this meeting, the Beseda did not call for the violent overthrow of power. ”
The case is considered by the 1st Eastern District Military Court, Judge Toropov. This week is the prosecution this week. Among them are the personal correspondence of Cuperman, the inspection protocols of the seized items, including telephones and paper documents, and witnesses. That's just the majority of these witnesses say that they do not remember the content of the document or do not even know about its existence.