For a year, Alexandra (Sasha) Skochilenko has been imprisoned in Russia for having replaced five price tags in a Saint Petersburg supermarket with messages against the war in Ukraine. A gesture that could earn him up to 10 years in prison. While his lawyer says she is convinced that Vladimir Putin’s Russia wants to make an example of her case, his spouse mentions having lost all hope that she will be released after a lengthy trial.
“The only aspect that gives me any hope is that once the court process is over and Sasha is moved to a penal colony, I can become her ‘public defender’ and see her every day. “Blows Sonia Subbotina, 30, joined these days in Saint Petersburg.
Since April 11, 2022, the date of Sasha’s arrest and incarceration, the two women have not been able to speak to each other. “In the eyes of Russian law, we are nothing for each other,” she slips. Since homosexual unions are not recognized in Russia, visits to them are prohibited. A lack of formalization of their relationship which also allowed the prosecutor to call Sonia as a witness at trial – which cannot be required when a couple is married – and which also prevents him from attending the hearings.
“But each time, I still enter the courtroom a few seconds before being chased away,” says Sonia. I just have time to say a few words to Sasha. I tell her that I miss her, that I love her and that I am waiting for her. »
prisoner of conscience
Since the outbreak of the “special military operation”, Alexandra Skochilenko has become one of the best-known prisoners of conscience opposed to the war in Ukraine in Russia, as well as outside its borders. “For this reason, the government will not grant him freedom [pendant la tenue de son procès ou après] to ensure that other people are not tempted to do what she did, ”denounces her lawyer, Yana Nepovinnova, in an interview.
The 32-year-old artist is facing criminal charges under the law prohibiting, since last March, the dissemination of “false information” about the actions carried out by the Russian army in Ukraine. Other Russians who had to answer the same charges “and who did not plead guilty were sent to prison for 6, 7 or 8 years”, reports Mr.e Nepovinova. Which makes us fear the worst for Sasha.
In court, the young woman admitted to having changed five price tags in a supermarket to replace them with labels bearing an anti-war message. One of these labels mentioned that “the Russian army shelled an art school in Mariupol where about 400 people had taken refuge to escape the shelling”. An event that made the headlines of several media in March 2022.
Although she recognizes this gesture, “Sasha does not admit that the information was false or that she knew the information was false when she disseminated it” – the element that the prosecution must prove -, explains her lawyer .
At the trial, which is being held in St. Petersburg, the prosecution has finished presenting its evidence. It is now the defense’s turn to submit its arguments, which it will do by citing, in particular, the media sources of information that have fueled Sasha’s reflection. “She also had sources of personal information — trusted people, [des Ukrainiens qui lui ont témoigné de la situation qu’ils vivaient dans des conversations écrites déposées en preuve], says his lawyer. That made sure it couldn’t be information she knew was wrong. »
And even if the defense does not have to prove that the information is true – only that Sasha did not know that it was “false” – “we will also present evidence that the information is true”, says Yana Nepovinnova .
police raid
On March 19, a public event in Saint Petersburg to promote the books that Sasha has written (including one to explain how to live with depression, an illness from which the young artist suffers) ended in a police raid, reports Sonia. “Eight armed men dressed in black and hooded entered. They knocked everyone down. Some participants were reportedly taken to a police station, information that The duty could not confirm.
There is nothing left in Russia of the rule of law
“The repression in Russia has become monstrous”, denounces Sonia, who managed to flee the event by an emergency exit. The 30-year-old woman also says that she has lost confidence in the judicial process. “There is nothing left in Russia of the rule of law. Many opponents have left the country in recent months, she recalls. And of those who stayed, “most are silent and scared because they know that if they speak out, the same thing will happen to them as what happened to Sasha.”
The work of lawyers has also become more complex, testifies Yana Nepovinnova. “I’ve been defending activists who oppose the war since day one of the invasion, and judges have told me I’m defending the wrong people and that I’m just like them. “Words also spoken by fellow lawyers, she is surprised. “And some of these colleagues defend murderers, she protests. But the fact that they defend them does not make them murderers themselves! »
I’ve been defending activists who oppose the war since day one of the invasion, and judges have told me I’m defending the wrong people and that I’m just like them
Despite the risks, the young 27-year-old lawyer assures us that she will continue to do her job. ” I know [qu’il y a un danger], but I can’t live otherwise,” she says. Especially since she does not see the actions of activists opposing the war in Ukraine as a crime. “I think the crime is rather to put in prison those who peacefully express their opinions. »