Artist Sasha Skochilenko, convicted in the case of «fakes» about the army, was transferred from Pre-trial Detention Center No. 5 in St. Petersburg. This was reported in the Telegram channel of her support group.
As stated in the publication, yesterday Skochilenko «departed for another institution» — according to the support group, she was transferred to Moscow. The reason why the artist was taken from Pre-trial Detention Center No. 5 is unknown. Skochilenko's support group also told Mediazona that the defense did not expect the artist to be transferred.
Skochilenko was convicted in November 2023 — the Vasileostrovsky District Court of St. Petersburg sentenced her to seven years in prison, finding her guilty of disseminating military «fakes» motivated by political hatred (clause «d» of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Since the defense appealed the verdict, the decision has not yet entered into legal force.
A criminal case was opened against Skochilenko because in March 2022 she changed price tags at the Perekrestok supermarket to pieces of paper with information about the number of victims of the war in Ukraine and calls to stop it. According to investigators, she acted with the aim of promoting a negative assessment of the “special military operation.”
Judge Oksana Demyasheva, who sentenced the artist to a real prison term, was later recommended for the post of deputy chairman of the Kalininsky District Court of St. Petersburg. In mid-June of this year, Putin appointed Demyasheva to this position.
Previously, Skochilenko's supporters demanded that Demyasheva be deprived of her status as a judge due to violations during the consideration of the artist's case — in particular, the judge refused to allow the defense even short breaks during long sessions, despite Skochilenko's health problems. As a result, the artist was deprived of the opportunity to go to the toilet, take medicine, eat or drink for several hours — she was forbidden to take water with her. In May, the European Union imposed sanctions against Demyasheva.
Today it became known that two former heads of Navalny’s headquarters, Liliya Chanysheva and Ksenia Fadeeva, were also taken from the colonies. In addition, the lawyer did not find human rights activist Oleg Orlov, who was previously convicted in the case of “discrediting” the army, in the pre-trial detention center.