Astrakhan activist goes on hunger strike after arrest

The trial of Elena Baibekova, charged with disobedience to the police, was held in the absence of an advocate; and policemen exerted pressure, Elena has reported. According to her story, in protest, she decided to go on hunger strike for the entire five-day period of her administrative arrest.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 22, even prior to the start of the Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Elena Baibekova, an activist, held a solo anti-war picket in Astrakhan. On February 27, law enforcers detained the activist. On February 28, the court sentenced her to five days of administrative arrest for disobeying the police.

Elena Baibekova has gone on a hunger strike. She treated what happened to her at the police as "outrageous." "They (policemen) wrote a clear lie in the protocol. Allegedly, I resisted the detention, and they allegedly grabbed my hands and dragged me to the GAZEL van. Although a lot of people saw me calmly leaving the house and getting into their GAZEL," Elena said.

According to her story, when she was brought to the police station, she was intimidated and directly threatened. "They said that 'there is no need to disturb people'; and they didn't like my active civic position," Ms Baibekova has stated.

Besides, during the court session, her right to defence was violated, she has stated, explaining: "Before the session, they gave me a paper and asked me to sign it. It was stated there that I have the right to an advocate. I wrote there that I demanded an advocate; but it seemed that it didn’t matter, they attached this piece of paper – and decided everything in 10 minutes."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 28, 2022 at 06:01 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.