Political prisoner Taisiya Osipova

Dear colleagues and journalists!

On December 27, 2011 at 10:00 in the city of Smolensk, Zadneprovski court a defense hearing will take place in the criminal case of an opposition activist and political prisoner Taisiya ​​Osipova.

We ask you to attend the last hearing of the criminal case.

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July 31st, 2011 — Activist Ilguiz Latypov holds a placard supporting Taisiya Osipova in front of the Russian Consulate in Toronto, as part of Strategy-31 protests.

On July 25th, the World Organization Against Torture released a request for urgent intervention in the case of Russian activist and political prisoner Taisiya Osipova.

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in the Russian Federation.

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Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty reports:

A motley band of bearded and unkempt activists from the unregistered Other Russia party have become the latest addition to Russia’s offbeat opposition protest scene.

Since July 17, they have attempted every day to hold a sit-in protest at Solovetsky Stone, a monument to victims of the Soviet secret services outside the Federal Security Service’s (FSB) central Moscow headquarters.

The protest has been forcefully dispersed every time.

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Today in Moscow activists began a sitting strike demanding to release the opposition activist and political prisoner Taisiya Osipova. The strike is taking place near the Solovetsky Stone, a monument to victims of political repression. The protest will be held continuously, 24 hours a day, until Taisiya’s verdict which is scheduled for the last decade of July.

So far, 6 activists have been roughly apprehended by the police, who dragged them along the ground. Police officers claimed that the activists had “illegally entered the park” (a small area of land surrounding the monument). The activists weren’t displaying any flags or banners or chanting any slogans.

The brutal dispersal of the strike was captured in photos by Ilya Varlamov: link.

The strike was organized by the opposition party The Other Russia, which produced the following statement:

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Voina’s Oleg Vorotnikov reports:

The German TV network ZDF has obtained accreditation for the July 8th court hearing. However, the crew informed me today that they were prohibited from filming or photographing during the hearing by judge Dvoryanchikov.

We also have news from Strasbourg:

Defense attorney Svetlana Sidorkina’s complaint of July 6th regarding the case of Taisiya Osipova has been accepted by European Court of Human Rights. The complaint was filed under application number 41366/11.

The complaint has been classified as urgent according to the Court’s urgency policy: Urgent  applications (in particular risk to life or health of the applicant, other circumstances linked to the personal or  family situation of the applicant, particularly where the well-being of a child is at issue, application of Rule 39 of the Rules of Court).

As reported by our observer in Smolensk:

Today (July 7th), the day before a scheduled court hearing on Taisiya Osipova’s case, Taisiya was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation. This was done in accordance with Leninskiy district court’s June 16th ruling in the civil suit case against the jail administration.

The defendant’s attorney Svetlana Sidorkina was denied access to her client at the hospital, which makes it impossible for the defense to prepare for Taisiya’s testimony at the upcoming July 8th hearing. Because of this, Sidorkina intends to move to adjourn the hearing. Judge Dvoryanchikov has been notified and has expressed his consent.

For now, the hearing is scheduled for 2:30 PM, July 8th. As the defense makes the motion, the hearing will likely be adjourned to a later date.

(more photos from the courtroom)

Our correspondent reports from Smolensk:

On June 28th, Zadneprovskiy district court of Smolensk held another hearing of the case of Taisiya Osipova, an opposition activist and a political prisoner. Taisiya is facing bogus charges under article 30 part 3 and article 228 part 1 of the Criminal Code. The charges have been fabricated against her by Center E operatives because of the political activity of her husband, opposition activist Sergey Fomchenkov.

Prior to the hearing I received permission to photograph Taisiya in the courtroom from judge Dvoryanchikov.

During the hearing the judge announced the defense’s decision to bring a second attorney into the trial. The new attorney was Svetlana Sidorkina, member of the human rights association Agora. As the technicalities of introducing a new attorney into the process were being discussed, her last name was mispronounced on multiple occasions. The incorrect name nearly ended up in the court documents, which would have led to significant bureaucratic complications later on. I had to correct the judge out loud to prevent this from happening. Of course, I was reprimanded for ‘consistently disrespecting the court’.

The judge then posed the following questions before Taisiya:

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Eric Sottas, Director of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) in Geneva, has submitted an open letter to Russian president Dmitri Medvedev, demanding a prompt medical examination and treatment for Taisiya Osipova, as well as her release in the absence of valid legal charges.

OPEN LETTER TO MR. DMITRY ANATOLYEVICH MEDVEDEV
PRESIDENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Geneva, 21 June 2011

Re: Fear for the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Taisiya Osipova – Denial of adequate medical treatment

Your Excellency,

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the largest Network of NGOs fighting against torture, summary executions, enforced disappearances and all other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the world, is writing to you to express its concern about the serious health problems of Ms. Taisiya Osipova, 26 years old, who is currently detained in poor conditions in the pre-trial detention centre (SIZO) 1, in Smolensk, province of Smolensk. She has been denied adequate medical treatment since her arrest on 23 November 2010, although she is suffering from multiple chronic diseases.

OMCT has been informed by reliable sources that, on 23 November 2010, around 20 policemen and officers from the Department to Combat Extremism entered violently Ms. Taisiya Osipova’s house, in Smolensk. The officers reportedly went from one room to another turning everything upside down while forcing Ms. Taisia Osipova to stay with her daughter in one of the rooms. Ms. Taisiya Osipova was arrested and brought to the pre-trial detention centre (SIZO) 1, in Smolensk, after the officers allegedly found five packs of greyish substance among her daughter’s clothes and a marked 500-ruble note. Upon arrival at the detention centre, she was examined by a prison doctor only for bruises on her arms that she sustained during the arrest.

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