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Pussy riot activist Marija Aljochina under house arrest: "Your apartment will become a prison"

2021-03-19T18:28:29.532Z


Marija Aljochina is not allowed to leave the house because of an Instagram post. She is also not allowed to speak to journalists. Here she does it and explains how Corona is used as a pretext to silence Kremlin critics.


Icon: enlarge

Pussy riot activist Marija Aljochina in the car of the Fsin prison authorities: Her house arrest was extended until June 23

Photo: Vladimir Gerdo / imago images / ITAR-TASS

Russian activists were placed under house arrest because they wanted to protest for the release of opposition politician Alexei Navalny in January.

The official allegation: They are said to have endangered the health of Muscovites, for which they face up to two years in prison.

The member of the pussy riot group Marija Aljochina is also among the accused.

She has since been under strict house arrest, which has just been extended.

Here, for the first time, she reports in detail how she is doing and how the corona pandemic is being used to take action against opposition members.

SPIEGEL:

You have not been allowed to leave your apartment since the end of January because you are said to have violated corona rules.

On Thursday, Vladimir Putin celebrated the anniversary of the "Anschluss" of Crimea in front of tens of thousands of crowded spectators in a stadium, very few of them wearing masks.

Did the performance surprise you?

Maria Alyochina:

Not at all.

Sure, the event in the Luzhniki Stadium is another example of the leadership's hypocrisy.

But the so-called hygiene investigations against me and others were completely absurd from the start.

When we were arrested two months ago and placed under house arrest, Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin also announced that all restaurants, bars and nightclubs would be allowed to reopen.

That happened the same day!

SPIEGEL:

The accusation against you is: "Incitement to violate sanitary-epidemiological norms, which results in the massive illness of others."

You face two years in prison.

What exactly are you being accused of?

Aljochina:

If you translate this accusation into understandable Russian, then it is a criminal case for calling for a rally.

It is said that we incited people with Covid to take to the streets and that we caused mass infections.

However, the investigation files say that there were no massive infections.

Everything is based solely on a call for a demonstration.

If she gets too far away with her ankle cuff, the phone will ring

SPIEGEL:

In your case, it's about a single post on Instagram.

Is that correct?

Aljochina:

On January 22nd, I shared a photo of myself and Lyusja Shteyn, who is a district MP and also a Pussy Riot member.

It was the eve of the first protests for Alexei Navalny's release.

We wanted to go there.

But as is unfortunately the custom in Russia, the police try to arrest prominent activists and politicians in advance.

And so that these people leave their apartment, you turn them off from the stairwell.

"A lot of people don't understand what house arrest means."

SPIEGEL:

In the photo you and Lyusja were seen in candlelight. Among other things, you had written: “Comrade Major, fuck the hell, we have candles.

And yes, we'll meet at the center tomorrow at 2 p.m. «You have been under house arrest since the end of January.

There are many things you are not allowed to do.

Aljochina: A

lot of people don't understand what house arrest means.

They compare that to self-isolation in the pandemic and think it's the same.

But it's completely different.

When you are under house arrest, your own apartment becomes a prison.

We have been given particularly strict rules.

We are not allowed to leave the apartment, not talk to others, nor are we officially allowed to use the Internet.

Even people who live alone are not allowed to order food online.

You are forced to break the rules and you can be remanded in custody for doing so.

SPIEGEL:

You are also not allowed to talk to journalists.

Alyochina:

I'm talking to you because I don't want to impose prison and self-censorship on myself.

SPIEGEL:

Are you allowed to go out for walks?

Alyochina:

No.

I have an electronic ankle cuff and a permanently installed telephone.

If the ankle cuffs are too far away, the security guards are informed and the phone rings.

If I do not pick up the phone then, I am seen as fleeting.

In the remand prison and even in prison, if one has already been sentenced, one is allowed to go outside for one hour a day.

I am also not allowed to accompany my child to school, I am not even allowed to see a doctor.

If you get sick or have a toothache while under house arrest, the first thing you need to do is call your investigator, and they won't allow you to see a doctor 95 percent of the time.

SPIEGEL:

What does all of this mean for your life now, how do you get food, for example, or take out your rubbish?

Alyochina:

My relatives help me, they look after me.

But Lyusja, for example, lives alone.

Without the help of friends and lawyers, it is, in principle, impossible to comply with the terms of the court.

"This is an attempt to muzzle us and block us."

SPIEGEL:

How is the situation with you; you currently live with your son?

Alyochina:

Yes, with him, his father and my mother.

I also have contact with my lawyer, who comes by regularly.

It is important to understand why we have been placed under house arrest and why we have been prosecuted.

Most of us are important employees of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, for example his press spokeswoman Kira Jarmysch or the lawyer Lyubow Sobol.

So the criminal proceedings are an attempt to silence people who are politically active and who are mistaken by the leadership for those who can mobilize others to take to the streets.

This is an attempt to silence and block us.

SPIEGEL:

But you are not part of Nawalny's team and you have not organized any demonstrations.

Aljochina:

Of course I asked myself why I am also affected.

I think it's about that we made the leadership angry with our actions.

We see the same thing with the municipal MPs, three are also affected by the criminal proceedings and are thus put under pressure.

With a conviction - and we know that there will definitely be one - all three will lose their status as MPs.

Most recently we saw how nearly 200 local politicians who met in Moscow for a forum were taken away and taken to police stations.

Another independent political institution is being destroyed in Russia.

Passport confiscated, accounts blocked

Icon: enlarge

Marija Aljochina in front of the headquarters of the domestic secret service FSB

Photo: Maria Alyokhina / Twitter

SPIEGEL:

How do you spend your days under house arrest?

Aljochina:

I'm writing a new book about us, I have already published the first one (

editor's note: Maria Aljochina "Days of Uprising").

Now I am writing about the time after we were released from the penal colony.

I work, but you see, this is a desk job.

I actually earn my living with concerts and lectures, travel a lot abroad, but I don't know when and if I can leave the country again.

My passport was confiscated by the Investigation Committee.

I don't know whether the authorities will give it back to me.

What kind of imprisonment I'll get, whether it's suspended, I don't know.

All of my accounts in Russia have already been blocked after participating in protests and being sentenced to heavy fines.

I'm not the only one who has endured this way.

I don't know how it will go on, but I don't think about it because I don't know how long the house arrest will last in total.

SPIEGEL:

It has just been extended by three months to June 23.

The authorities justify this by saying that they need time to investigate further.

What investigations are being carried out in your case?

Alyochina:

Virtually none.

We were arrested in late January.

First it was said that we were witnesses, then we became accused.

The authorities cite our social media posts as alleged evidence.

Linguistic reports were requested on February 10th, but we only got to see them shortly before the hearing on March 12th.

The experts are not independent appraisers, they work for the investigative committee.

This is called investigation here.

We are seeing here practically a copy of what already happened in the days of the Soviet Union.

At the same time, journalists have no access to the negotiations at the Basmannij court, which is responsible for us, because of the pandemic.

All bars, night clubs and stadiums are open.

Judgments, arrests, searches - this has become everyday life

more on the subject

  • Icon: Spiegel PlusAlexej Navalny and his life in captivity: penal camp IK-2, a hundred kilometers from MoscowBy Alexander Chernyshev, Christian Esch and Christina Hebel, Moscow

  • Navalny protests across Russia: The wave of anger grips the countryBy Christina Hebel, Moscow

  • Navalny protests: snowballs against batons by Christian Esch and Christina Hebel, Moscow

SPIEGEL: In

2012 you were tried as a Pussy Riot member.

At that time you were arrested for a "punk prayer," a performance in a Moscow church.

How has Russia changed since then?

Alyochina:

For the worse.

Our trial at the time was one of the first political trials.

Today such criminal proceedings are initiated almost every day.

Judgments, arrests, searches - this has become everyday life.

Almost all independent media have been destroyed, there are new repressive laws.

There is no reason for us to stop, but there are an awful lot of political prisoners today compared to before.

SPIEGEL:

Did the corona pandemic ultimately help Putin suppress opponents?

Alyochina:

If it weren't for the pandemic, a different paragraph would have been found.

Every year there is a major trial against political activists, so you can choose any article from the criminal code and use it.

It's about the overall picture, not what formal pretext the state uses.

SPIEGEL:

Aren't you afraid of being punished for violating the arrest conditions?

Alyokhina:

I'm not afraid of the detention center.

No reptiles live there, just ordinary people.

Icon: The mirror

Collaboration: Tatiana Chukhlomina

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-03-19

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