A Russian anti-fascist activist accused of planning terrorist attacks has said that he was tortured in custody by security forces who demanded he retract previous torture allegations.
Dmitry Pchelintsev, 25, is one of several anti-fascists who were detained in the cities of Penza and St. Petersburg as part of a Federal Security Service’s (FSB) investigation into alleged terror plots planned for the presidential elections and the World Cup. In February, Pchelintsev said he had been forced to confess to plotting the attacks after being tortured in a prison cell shortly after his arrest in October.
Pchelintsev told his attorney that an FSB officer had ordered him to retract his previous torture allegations and to say that he had been lying, the Novaya Gazeta investigative newspaper reported this week.
“You’re an enemy and a terrorist. That’s the truth,” the officer is reported to have said, in between rounds of electrocution.
The Feb. 10 encounter, one day after Pchelintsev’s account was published on the Mediazona news website, reportedly included threats of gang-rape against his wife.
Pchelintsev said he was instructed to “do as the investigator says.”
“If they point at something white and say it’s black, you say ‘black.’ If they cut your finger and tell you to eat it, you eat it,” the officer was quoted as saying.
Attorney Oleg Zaytsev, who relayed Pchelintsev’s words to Mediazona and Novaya Gazeta, has appealed to open a criminal case into the torture allegations.
“If I once again retract my testimony about torture, confess to the absurd accusation and implicate others, or if something happens to me within the walls of pre-trial detention or the FSB — that means I was tortured again,” Pchelintsev warned.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
