Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Freedom for anarchist antifa prisoner Aleksander Kolchenko. Support needed!

Brighton ABC | 25.03.2015 17:48

Alexander Kolchenko is a Crimean anarchist, social activist and antifascist who is held in captivity by the Russian authorities. Along with other Crimean activists, he has been kidnapped by the Russian FSB (ex-KGB) and is now detained as a political hostage in Lefortovo jail in Moscow. He is charged with committing "acts of terrorism" and "belonging to a terrorist community".



Brighton Anarchist Black Cross has joined the international campaign to free anarchist prisoner Alexander ‘Tundra’ Kolchenko. Below is a text explaining the background to the case, as well as ways in which you can express your solidarity and help in getting him set free.

Alexander Kolchenko is a Crimean anarchist, social activist and antifascist who is held in captivity by the Russian authorities. Along with other Crimean activists, he has been kidnapped by the Russian FSB (ex-KGB) and is now detained as a political hostage in Lefortovo jail in Moscow. He is charged with committing "acts of terrorism" and "belonging to a terrorist community".

Why Alexander Kolchenko is in the jail?

Alexander, who has undeniably proved his antifascist stance over many years, is facing preposterous accusations of belonging to 'Right Sector', a radical Ukrainian right-wing organisation, whose real role in Ukrainian events has been blown out of all proportion by Russian official propaganda.

In modern Russia any activist — left-wing, anarchist or liberal — can be slandered as being a member or sympathiser of 'Right Sector'. This situation is comparable to the hunt for non-existent 'Trotskyists' under Stalin, or the McCarthy witch-hunt for communists. Putin’s authoritarian and nationalist regime, whose propaganda utilises everything from religious prejudice and conspiracy theories to outright racism, shamelessly steals 'antifascist' rhetoric to divert attention from its true aims. And yet anyone who is considered bothersome is called a 'fascist', even if s/he stands on the opposite side of the political spectrum.

The case against antifascist Alexander Kolchenko and the civil activist and film director Oleg Sentsov (investigators enrolled them into the same "terrorist" group) is patently political. It is meant to intimidate the inhabitants of Crimea and prevent any resistance on the peninsula. The most authoritarian of methods are now used in an annexed Crimea to repress all discontent. Many people were obliged to flee the peninsula because their lives and freedom were threatened: lawyers, left-wing activists, students and trade union activists, anarchists, antifascists and Crimean Tatar activists, the latter having fallen victim to ethnic discrimination.

What threats does Alexander Kolchenko face?

A terrible prison sentence of up to 20 years hangs over Alexander Kolchenko for a non-existent "terrorist attack" in which he could obviously not have been involved. Kolchenko and other Ukrainian political prisoners are detained only in order to demoralise the opposition via the tried and tested tactic of show trials. Their freedom is directly linked to the stability of the Putin regime: if we can shake the confidence of Putin despite his apparent impunity, the prisoners will be set free. There is no hope that Kolchenko, Sentsov and others could be judged according to the letter of the law: their arrests were unlawful and the charges against them are far-fetched. It is not a mistake, the regime knows exactly what it is doing.

How can you help Alexander Kolchenko?

We are asking international left-wing and libertarian forces for assistance. You can organise and lead actions of protest and solidarity, write letters to Kolchenko, send donations for lawyers and food parcels, and help his family. It is also important to spread information about his case. Most of all, we need to dissociate ourselves from any forces that support aggressive expansion of Russian nationalism, even if they cover it up with "leftist" and "anti-imperialist" rhetoric. Putin's regime is doing just fine without your sympathy; better save it for those who have become its victims.

When to start?

You can start right now by helping to spread this text, translating it into other languages and forwarding it on to your contacts. We also strongly encourage you to organise demonstrations in support of Alexander Kolchenko and the other political prisoners jailed in Russia between April 1st and 7th, 2015. On April 11 and 16 respectively the initial custody periods for Sentsov and Kolchenko come to their end. In the first half of April Lefortovo District Court of Moscow will again decide whether they should be remanded in jail pending trial or placed under house arrest. Only strong and massive pressure on the Putin regime, protests around the world, will give us the opportunity to set our comrades free. We demand their immediate release and an end to their prosecution.

For those in UK, one of the easiest and most basic things that everybody can do is to send a protest letter, email or fax to the Russian embassy, but obviously we urge everybody to participate in solidarity actions in any way possible.

Below is a sample message you can send:

I demand the release of Alexander Kolchenko and other Crimean activists held in Russian prisons on ridiculous and patently trumped up charges of “acts of terrorism” and “belonging to a terrorist association”. I see those arrests as a clear act of political persecution and an attempt to intimidate any opposition of Russian government and its policies. I urge you to stop this repression and release those imprisoned immediately. Actions of your government are causing more and more opposition to the Russian regime, both inside and outside of your country, and this will continue to grow if you insist on keeping your opponents in jail.

Contact information:

Embassy:
6/7 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QP

Residence of the Ambassador:
13 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QX

Consular Section:
5 Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 4QS

Telephone Embassy: +44 (0) 20 7229 6412
Fax Embassy: +44 (0) 20 7727 8625

Telephone Consular Section (PASSPORT, VISA, etc): +44 (0) 203 668 7474
Fax Consular Section: +44 (0) 20 7229 3215

Internet: www.rusemb.org.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/russianembassy
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Russian-Embassy-in-London/279167575450403
E-mail:
 info@rusemb.org.uk - Consular queries
 press@rusemb.org.uk - Press and culture queries
 bilateralrelations@rusemb.org.uk - Russia-UK relations queries
 foreignpolicy@rusemb.org.uk - Foreign policy queries

More information below:

Interview with Alexander Kolchenko
 http://noborders.org.ua/en/fields-of-work/other/aleksandr...
Repressions against Crimean activists: political context
 https://avtonom.org/en/news/repressions-against-crimean-activists...
Multilingual Facebook group
www.facebook.com/groups/1444685555784296/

Contact Free Kolchenko group at: freekolchenko[at]gmail.com

Brighton ABC
- e-mail: brightonabc@riseup.net
- Homepage: www.brightonabc.org.uk

Comments

Display the following comment

  1. An extra sentence for your e-mail — Muppetwatch
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech