DASHA LITVINOVA
Wed, November 8, 2023
Sasha Skochilenko, a 33-year-old artist and musician, walks escorted by officers to the court room for a hearing in the Vasileostrovsky district court in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. Skochilenko was arrested in April 2022 and faces charges of spreading false information about the army after replacing supermarket price tags with slogans protesting against Russia's military operation in Ukraine.
(AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian authorities on Wednesday demanded an eight-year prison term for an artist and musician who was jailed after speaking out against Moscow's war in Ukraine.
Sasha Skochilenko was arrested in her native St. Petersburg in April 2022, on charges of spreading false information about the military after replacing supermarket price tags with antiwar slogans decrying the invasion.
Her arrest took place about a month after authorities adopted a law effectively criminalizing any public expression about the war in Ukraine that deviates from the Kremlin's official line. The legislation has been used in a widespread crackdown on opposition politicians, human rights activists and ordinary Russians critical of the Kremlin, with many receiving lengthy prison terms.
Skochilenko is on trial, and the prosecution delivered closing arguments Wednesday, asking the court to convict her and sentence her to eight years in prison. Independent Russian news site Mediazona cited Skochilenko as saying that she was “in shock” over the severity of the sentence being sought.
The 33-year-old has been held in pre-trial detention for nearly 19 months. She has struggled due to several health problems, including a congenital heart defect, bipolar disorder and celiac disease, requiring a gluten-free diet, her partner, Sofya Subbotina, has told The Associated Press.
Almost daily court hearings in recent months put additional pressure on Skochilenko — the tight schedule often prevented her from getting meals. At one point, the judge called an ambulance to the courthouse after she fell ill, telling the court it was her second straight day without any food. At another hearing, she burst into tears after the judge rejected a request for a break so that she could eat or at least use the bathroom.
Russia's most prominent human rights group and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Memorial, has declared Skochilenko a political prisoner.
According to OVD-Info, another prominent rights group that monitors political arrests and provides legal aid, a total of 19,834 Russians have been arrested between Feb. 24, when the war began, and late October 2023 for speaking out or demonstrating against the war.
Nearly 750 people have faced criminal charges for their antiwar stances, and over 8,100 faced petty charges of discrediting the army, punishable by a fine or a short stint in jail.
Russian artist facing 8 years in jail over supermarket protest
AFP
Wed, November 8, 2023
Artist Alexandra Skochilenko, pictured in January 2023, has been in detention since April last year (Olga MALTSEVA)
Russian prosecutors on Wednesday demanded an eight-year prison sentence for artist Alexandra Skochilenko, who last year swapped supermarket price tags for statements criticising Moscow's military offensive in Ukraine, independent media reported.
The 33-year-old artist and musician has been in detention since April last year, when she was arrested for changing labels in a Saint Petersburg supermarket with messages against Russia's large-scale intervention in Ukraine.
"The prosecution has asked for eight years," the independent Mediazona website reported, citing a journalist in the courtroom in Saint Petersburg.
Skochilenko, who is known mostly by her diminutive Sasha, was accused of spreading disinformation about the Russian army.
The legislation, which carries a maximum term of 10 years behind bars, was adopted after Moscow deployed troops to Ukraine in February 2022 and has been used to stifle criticism of the conflict.
Skochilenko has been on trial despite a number of health conditions, including celiac disease and a congenital heart defect.
Her mother Nadezhda Skochilenko told AFP last month that "a real prison term would just be a catastrophe for Sasha".
Mediazona published a photograph of Skochilenko in the defendant's box, wearing a colourful T-shirt with a peace sign on it.
The website reported that German diplomats and some cultural figures were present at the hearing.
Her price tag messages included descriptions of people hiding from Russian bombing in Ukraine's Mariupol, as Moscow introduced a ban on criticism of its offensive.
She was arrested after a shopper reported the price tags to the police.
"The words about how Russia attacked Ukraine are false," Mediazona quoted the prosecutor as saying.
"The aim of the special military operation was to protect the citizens of Donbas from aggression," the prosecutor added, using the Kremlin's name for its offensive.
Thousands of Russians have been detained, jailed or fined for opposing the conflict.
Lesbian Artist Faces 8 Years in Russian Prison For Criticizing Putin, Military
Donald Padgett
Wed, November 8, 2023
Vladimir Putin Aleksandra Skochilenko Russia
Russian prosecutors have requested a sentence of eight years in a penal colony for a lesbian artist who criticized the country’s military actions in Ukraine in a supermarket protest last year, according to the Russian language Mediazona.
Alexandra Skochilenko, 33, has been charged with spreading knowingly false information about the use of the armed forces and the government’s use of its authority, a crime punishable by up to 10 years in a penal colony.
On March 31, 2022, Skochilenko, also known as Sasha, switched out the price tags at a Perekrestok supermarket with stickers that looked like price tags but contained a series of anti-war messages.
In a series of five tags available on a Save Sasha website, Skochilenko accused the armed forces of committing genocide, called Putin a liar, and described Russia as a fascist state.
“My great-grandfather did not take part in the Great Patriotic War (World War Two) for four years in order for Russia to become a fascist state and attack Ukraine,” read one of the stickers.
Another sticker asked why state media was not covering the civilian death toll in Ukraine.
A witness alerted authorities and Skochilenko was arrested on April 11, 2022. She has been held in custody since her arrest despite suffering from bipolar disorder and other serious physical conditions.
Skochilenko has been specifically charged by prosecutors with knowingly spreading false information because of alleged political and ideological hatred. Prosecutors presented expert witnesses who declared there was no fascism in Russia and that the government was truthful and just in its statements and actions regarding the armed forces and Ukraine.
“Skochilenko compares the Russian Federation with a fascist state, they [prosecution expert witnesses] explained that in the Russian Federation now there are no elements of a fascist state,” prosecutor Alexander Gladyshev declared in court. “The words that Russia attacked Ukraine are false; the purpose of the SVO [special military operation] was to protect the citizens of Donbas from aggression.”
For her part, Skochilenko disputed that she was motivated but hatred or political ideology.
“I just wanted to stop the war - that was my motivation. Not hatred, but compassion,” she told the court on November 3, according to the Russian language Mediazona. “I am sure that every person in this room does not want there to be a war. Even you, your honor, even you, the state prosecutor. You also don’t want people to die prematurely, for young soldiers to lie in the fields, for civilians to die. You, like any person, want peace, prosperity, love.”
The court also heard that in addition to suffering from bipolar disorder, Skochilenko also has a cyst in the right ovary, heart disease, PTSD, and celiac disease.
Skochilenko is due back in court on November 13.
Donald Padgett
Wed, November 8, 2023
Vladimir Putin Aleksandra Skochilenko Russia
Russian prosecutors have requested a sentence of eight years in a penal colony for a lesbian artist who criticized the country’s military actions in Ukraine in a supermarket protest last year, according to the Russian language Mediazona.
Alexandra Skochilenko, 33, has been charged with spreading knowingly false information about the use of the armed forces and the government’s use of its authority, a crime punishable by up to 10 years in a penal colony.
On March 31, 2022, Skochilenko, also known as Sasha, switched out the price tags at a Perekrestok supermarket with stickers that looked like price tags but contained a series of anti-war messages.
In a series of five tags available on a Save Sasha website, Skochilenko accused the armed forces of committing genocide, called Putin a liar, and described Russia as a fascist state.
“My great-grandfather did not take part in the Great Patriotic War (World War Two) for four years in order for Russia to become a fascist state and attack Ukraine,” read one of the stickers.
Another sticker asked why state media was not covering the civilian death toll in Ukraine.
A witness alerted authorities and Skochilenko was arrested on April 11, 2022. She has been held in custody since her arrest despite suffering from bipolar disorder and other serious physical conditions.
Skochilenko has been specifically charged by prosecutors with knowingly spreading false information because of alleged political and ideological hatred. Prosecutors presented expert witnesses who declared there was no fascism in Russia and that the government was truthful and just in its statements and actions regarding the armed forces and Ukraine.
“Skochilenko compares the Russian Federation with a fascist state, they [prosecution expert witnesses] explained that in the Russian Federation now there are no elements of a fascist state,” prosecutor Alexander Gladyshev declared in court. “The words that Russia attacked Ukraine are false; the purpose of the SVO [special military operation] was to protect the citizens of Donbas from aggression.”
For her part, Skochilenko disputed that she was motivated but hatred or political ideology.
“I just wanted to stop the war - that was my motivation. Not hatred, but compassion,” she told the court on November 3, according to the Russian language Mediazona. “I am sure that every person in this room does not want there to be a war. Even you, your honor, even you, the state prosecutor. You also don’t want people to die prematurely, for young soldiers to lie in the fields, for civilians to die. You, like any person, want peace, prosperity, love.”
The court also heard that in addition to suffering from bipolar disorder, Skochilenko also has a cyst in the right ovary, heart disease, PTSD, and celiac disease.
Skochilenko is due back in court on November 13.
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