#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #ITALY #ANARCHISM #LIBRARY #News #Journal #Update - (en) #Italy, Galatea FAI: "Tens of thousands (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation] of people could follow us." Chita teenagers face 5 years in prison for anti-war graffiti

 Note: ---- To make certain phrases and terms flow smoothly, we have made some

slight modifications, adding square brackets where we deemed it appropriate. ----
Although we are not native speakers, let alone Russists*, we used the following
study materials: ---- -"Essential Russian-Italian Italian-Russian dictionary
edited by Edigeo", Zanichelli, 1990; "Russian-Italian, Italian-Russian
dictionary", "Perun" editions, 2002. ---- -"Russian grammar. Theory manual" by
Claudia Cevese and Julia Dobrovolskaja of 2018 ---- - Wiktionary English and
Russian versions
Alexander Snezhkov and Lyubov Lizunova ---- Two teenagers from Chita, Lyubov
Lizunova and Aleksandr Snezhkov, were arrested by FSB agents at the end of
October while writing, as graffiti, "Death to the regime". Now 19-year-old
Aleksandr Snezhkov and 16-year-old Lyubov Lizunova are charged with three
criminal articles: public calls for terrorist activities ( Article 205.2 of the
Criminal Code), public calls for the implementation of actions aimed at violating
territory of the Russian Federation ( article 280.1 of the Criminal Code) 1 and
vandalism ( article 214.2of the Penal Code). Two of these charges carry up to 3
years in prison, the third up to 5 years in a penal colony. On December 9 ,
Lyubov and Aleksandr were entered into the terrorist register of Rosfinmonitoring .

" They said they understood my views, but I broke the law."

On October 31st, FSB agents stopped Sasha and Lyubov in the garage while they
wrote "Death to the regime" on one of them.

" There was already evidence against us ," says Lubov Lizunova, " we discussed
this by correspondence. Furthermore, we have our telegram channels , in which we
have spoken out against the current regime. The painted garages are opposite the
Gymnasium school no. 12 of Chita. The FSB even seized the video from the
surveillance cameras next door ."

" We often draw on the walls ," says Aleksandr Snezhkov. " Usually it is not
about politics, but about painting one's art on the facades of abandoned houses.
And these garages were abandoned, so we decided to paint them. We painted, then
we made a fire, we wanted to warm up. At that moment, two men arrived, showed us
their documents and took us inside the school . They took away the spray paint
cans and markers . One of them told me that he understood my ideas, but that I
had broken the law."

Despite why Snezhkov and Lizunova were being prosecuted for the graffiti, the FSB
cited in its report the telegram channels "Sugan-25" and "75zlo" - which, in
their view, were run by suspicious people.

In particular, law enforcement agencies were interested in a post summarizing
partisan activities from the beginning of the war to mobilization, in which the
burning of military recruiting offices, sabotage of the railway and the actions
of the " Anarcho-communist fighting organization " .

The court ordered the teenagers to be detained in the form of a restraining
order. Snezhkov's and Lizunova's homes were searched. Equipment and records owned
by their families were confiscated. That's why they can't even show pictures of
anti-war graffiti.

" The FSB arrived in the morning, I was still sleeping" , says Lyubov, " My
parents opened the door. There was no pressure, no threats. I calmly went to the
kitchen and poured myself some coffee . It was unpleasant when they started
reading my personal notes and laughing. They took my phone, the flyers with the
words "Freedom, equality, brotherhood", the anti -fascist pins and those with the
name of the telegram channel."

FSB agents did not know where Snezhkov lived; so they went to the address where
his mother lived.

" After the officers left, my mother called me and was shocked. She told me they
came and searched everything. Eventually they took his laptop from him and my old
phone from him. It's not clear what they want to find us," says Sasha.

" Bad influence on my peers"

" They didn't forbid us to move around the city ," Lyubov said, " but now the FSB
is talking to my parents. For now they have decided to let me study at home, with
the motivation that "I am a bad influence on my peers and I could inculcate my
ideas in them." "

Lu ragazzu say their cases are now being handled by Centro E (the anti-extremism
unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs ) .

At the request of the editorial staff, the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not
respond on the case of Snezhkov and Lizunova; on the phone, an agent on duty
refused to comment on the details of the case of the young anti-fascists.

Lyubov Lizunova is 16 years old. She describes herself as a seasoned activist.
She says she has been " fighting the regime since she was 14 ". Lei lyubov lei
recently returned from Vladivostok, where for six months she participated in
anti-war actions, posting anti-war leaflets and drawing graffiti on the walls.

" Personally, I am guided by simple human values, elevated to the absolute:
freedom, equality, brotherhood. And I believe that if I have a position, I can
express it. I have been participating in public actions for a long time. Not only
in the political field but also, for example, in the ecological one," says Lyubov.

The first time the police questioned her she was 14 years old. Law enforcement
was interested in her online posts, especially the one in which he burned the
Russian tricolor. " I had a Russian flag at home and I decided to burn it in
protest against the current regime. The one thing I shouldn't have done at the
time was take pictures and put them on the internet. I got away with it, but have
been under active surveillance ever since."

" What do his parents think about your opinions?"

Like all parents, they feared what is basically happening now:[the arrival of]the
police , the FSB . But they understand for themselves that it is impossible to
live under the current regime. They are adults, they can see for themselves what
kind of country we live in. I agree that I can speak and argue my position. And
that I can openly disagree. They calmed down because it doesn't affect my life.
Or rather, it wasn't, until recent events. True, they were calm about what
happened. They expected it , "explains Lyubov.

Aleksandr Snezhkov, 19, turned anti-fascist four years ago after participating in
the actions of liberal activists.

" Even my parents were wary of my participation in protests and demonstrations ,"
says 19-year-old Aleksandr. " My father and I don't live together, but we keep in
touch. At first he didn't take my opinions seriously, thinking it was because of
my age of him. But then, when he understood that it was serious for me, he
demanded that I stop. Especially after the police arrived."

According to Aleksandr, two years ago he was arrested during a picket in support
of the "Network" (an anarchist and anti-fascist organization that became very
well known when its members were accused of creating a terrorist association; in
February 2020 seven defendants were sentenced to sentences ranging from 6 to 18
years in prison). At the time, Snezhkov had just turned 17 and had been on the
register of the commission for minors for six months, but he did not give up his
views on him.

" What is anti-fascism? It is above all a fight against violence. Initially I was
against the strengthening and impunity of the authorities, such as the police,
and against the various right-wing parties. Then I came to the views of the
extra-parliamentary left. I've read everything from socialists, Marx, Lenin to
anarchists."

Snezhkov explains, in simple terms, his disagreement with the current regime:
repression and poverty.

" We live in an age of repression. There is now a fight against dissidents and
the destruction of our people in war and civilian life - the increase in prices
in shops, caused by the destruction of the economy, has been felt by many. Many
of my friends from other cities have suffered and every month I find that some of
them have been arrested. Including musicians I know who have been arrested for
their anti-war positions ," says Aleksandr. " The situation will only get worse."

" We are engaged in senseless slaughter on Ukrainian territory"

" We don't agree with today's politics ," says Aleksandr. " In our state there is
constant repression, we are considered aggressors from all over the world. More
precisely, our state is considered an aggressor. We are engaged in absolutely
senseless slaughter on Ukrainian territory . What does it mean? It is carried out
by our rulers , which pursues self-interests defined in 2014, when everything was
just starting."

" In February and March I thought it would be over quickly," recalls Snezhkov .
Naturally the attitude towards the war was immediately negative. In any case,
however, military actions are negative in nature . But in the spring it seems
that the problem disappeared quickly. I didn't think it would last this long. As
we can see, all this has led to irreversible changes: continuous deaths,
mobilisations, rising prices."

Before the war, Aleksandr was in contact with anti-fascists from various
countries, including Ukraine. Now their communication has stopped.

Now the Ukrainian kids have become more radical. Before, when everything was
going well, no one noticed that I was from Russia. Was there Nazism in Ukraine?
Of course there was. And name me a country that doesn't have it! Russia is no
different . Look at the same " Rusich ": these are Russian neo-Nazis. It is a
very strange position for the Russian authorities to fight Nazism in another
country while there are such groups on their own territory .

Lyubov and Sasha still don't have a lawyer. Lu anarchicu and lu antifascistu
russu are raising funds to hire one. According to lu ragazzu, the trial should
take place next February.

At best, he gets rem or a reprieve . This is the maximum," says Lyubov, " but
Sasha is of age, he could be convicted . We do not benefit this state. Especially
now . People do not understand what is happening - they believe the authorities.
And these actions, public protests, can send the right message. And tens of
thousands of people can follow us.[The rulers]are afraid of these[actions]."

Snezhkov is sure that in his case there will be a conviction. But it's not the
imprisonment that worries him.

" I am worried that now all the prisoners will be taken to the Wagner Group and
understandably do not want to go there . I won't fight the same, I won't kill. I
hope "politics" don't force us to join them ," says Aleksandr.

Since the Russian authorities instituted military censorship - introducing
criminal penalties for "false news" about the war in Ukraine and for discrediting
the Russian military - more than 300 criminal cases have been opened in Russia
for actions and statements against war.

These are the statistics cited by the publication "Verstka" 2 together with the
OVD-Info project.

Notes of the Galatea Anarchist Group

1 The city of Chita is the capital of the Transbaikalia Territory (on the border
with Mongolia). There have been ethnic tensions between the local population and
the Russian central administration for decades. With the outbreak of war in
Ukraine, Putin and his entourage passed legislation designed to preserve the
rights of native populations and, at the same time, repress any form of dissent
that could lead to separatist attempts. In the case of the two compagnu, the
crime of separatism charged against them serves to have a greater impact on the
criminal trial.

2 Social-political online publication founded on April 26, 2022 by independent
journalists and part of the Gender Literacy Project team, explores and describes
how Russian society works. Link: https://verstka.media/

https://gruppoanarchicogalatea.noblogs.org/post/2022/12/29/decine-di-migliaia-di-persone-potrebbero-seguirci-adolescenti-di-cita-rischiano-5-anni-di-carcere-per-dei-graffiti-contro-la-guerra/
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