“Oleksandr told his lawyer that the staff of the new colony tried to force other prisoners to write a denunciation against him – to create a pretext for accusing him of discrediting the russian army again. The prisoners seem to be refusing so far, but there are sentiments of this kind,” the prisoner’s wife Kateryna told the Association.
At the beginning of the year, political prisoner Oleksandr Marchenko was transferred from IK No. 8 in Ulan-Ude to IK No. 2. Kateryna thinks that the new colony is revenge for Oleksandr’s appeal against discrediting the russian army, of which he was accused in December 2022. According to the “investigation”, Oleksandr commented news on the radio about the “special military operation”, calling the war a war. After that, his cellmates wrote a denunciation against Marchenko. The accusation is absurd in all aspects, including the fact that the law provides for publicity of “discrediting”. Nevertheless, Marchenko was fined 30 thousand rubles, what made his lawyers to file an appeal against the verdict.
If within a year a case of discrediting the russian army is opened against Marchenko again, the prisoner may receive an increase of his term by 3 years or, at best, a fine of 700 thousand rubles.
After being transferred to IK No. 2, Marchenko was placed in a single cell-type facility (EPCT) as a malicious offender. Katerina thinks that the administration will try to find an informer until July, when the ordered by court term of the EPCT expires.
“Moreover, the colony staff ask our lawyer to take pictures of all the documents he brings to meetings with Oleksandr: complaints, letters, planned appeals. The lawyer finds excuses not to do this, but the requests are becoming more and more regular,” says Kateryna.
As a reminder, Oleksandr Marchenko was detained by the “DPR Ministry of State Security” on December 17, 2018. For 2 months he was held in Donetsk prison “Izoliatsia”, where he was subjected to torture. Subsequently, the man was handed over to representatives of the russian FSB. On November 26, 2020, Marchenko, who was accused of transporting military goods and espionage, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
