International Courant
Irina Turbina
Arseny Turbin is one in all many youngsters going through politically motivated prison fees in Russia
Considered one of Russia’s youngest political prisoners has misplaced an attraction to overturn a five-year jail sentence.
Arseni Turbin was solely 15 when he was arrested in the summertime of 2023.
Authorities accused him of becoming a member of the Freedom of Russia Legion, a paramilitary unit made up of Russian volunteers who fought for Ukraine towards the Russian military.
The Freedom of Russia Legion is designated a terrorist group by Russia and Arseny was sentenced to 5 years in jail in a youth colony. On Thursday, the appeals court docket shortened his five-year time period, however solely by 24 days.
In keeping with Russian human rights group OVD-Information, Arseny is one in all 9 minors who’ve confronted politically motivated prison fees because the begin of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent crackdown on civil liberties.
He denies all fees towards him. He says he researched the Legion, however by no means signed up and dedicated no crime. His mom Irina additionally insists that he’s harmless.
“I simply do not perceive the choose who handed the sentence,” she instructed the BBC.
Investigators additionally allege that Arseny distributed leaflets on behalf of the legion criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He admitted to distributing leaflets however denied following directions from anybody.
At college, Arseny overtly criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin.
He was additionally politically energetic on social media, reposting content material from Russian opposition figures and infrequently sharing his personal political content material, together with a video wherein he could be seen holding a solo picket in help of the late opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
Irina Turbina
Irina is satisfied that her son Arseny is harmless
His mom says he acted on his personal accord and never on behalf of the Legion of Freedom of Russia.
However in late August 2023, brokers from the FSB, Russia’s safety service, searched Arseny’s residence within the small city of Livny, 280 miles south of Moscow, and seized his digital units.
The following day he was summoned for questioning and charged with becoming a member of the Legion of Freedom of Russia.
“I used to be hysterical, I used to be shaking and crying,” his mom stated. “Arseny stated to me: ‘Mother, settle down, I did not commit a criminal offense, they’ll determine it out.’”
There was no lawyer current throughout the interrogation, which Irina deeply regrets. She believes the FSB then added to the transcript an request for forgiveness that Arseny by no means made.
A few of his classmates have been questioned by investigators and stated that Arseny typically criticized Putin and Russia’s actions in Ukraine. However of their statements – which the BBC has seen – none of them stated he had hyperlinks to the Freedom of Russia Legion.
However, Arseny was formally arrested the next week.
He spent a number of months underneath home arrest awaiting sentencing. He was then transferred to a detention heart in Moscow final June, the place he has been held ever since.
Throughout that point, his mom says his weight dropped from 69kg to 52kg as he struggled with a lack of urge for food as a consequence of fixed stress.
Irina additionally seen that he has withdrawn emotionally and sometimes asks why he’s being punished for one thing he didn’t do.
For a time, Arseny additionally had a violent cellmate who attacked, hit him on the pinnacle and threatened him.
Talking to the BBC, Irina and Arseny’s lecturers painted an image of a extremely smart and politically dedicated younger man who now faces a number of lengthy years in jail for a criminal offense he didn’t commit.
His mom stated Arseny was keen about science from an early age, particularly physics and economics.
He dreamed of finding out political science at a prestigious college in Moscow. “He wished to enhance life in Russia,” his mom stated.
She stated her son had a robust sense of justice, which he developed after being bullied in school.
He was typically mocked and known as derogatory names as a result of he was born in Dubai and his father was from the United Arab Emirates.
Irina says that Arseny has no mates since his arrest as a result of most of them have distanced themselves from him.
Her neighbors and colleagues even accuse her of “elevating a terrorist,” she says.
If Arseny have been really harmless, they argue, the court docket would have acquitted him. She believes they do not totally perceive how the Russian authorized system works.
Her customary response is to hope they by no means must encounter the system themselves.
“However in case you do, you will discover out.”
Russian anti-war teen faces 5 years in jail after failed attraction
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