Russia – How Security Forces Look for Extremists: Hunting for the Elderly Women
Author: Administrator
Date: January 23, 2020
In the photo from left to right, from top to bottom: Elena Zayshchuk, Nina Purge, Kaleria Mamykina, Lyubov Galaktionova, Vera Zolotova, Raisa Usanova, Maya Karpushkina, Olga Opaleva
Special forces rush into a defenseless elderly woman. Ambulance, hospital, poor health. She was watched – as she prays, reads, sings and speaks with others about God. For security officials, she is an “extremist.” They worked out this scenario on at least 20 Russian women from 60 to 87 years old.
Almost all law enforcement agencies are engaged in surveillance and raids on dissenting pensioners: the FSB, the prosecutor’s office, the Investigative Committee, the Russian Guard, the Federal Penitentiary Service, riot police, and SOBR.
Heart attacks, strokes, exacerbations of chronic diseases and complications after operations are just some of the consequences of blindly or biasedly applying anti-extremist legislation, which has become the basis for the persecution of older believers.
The situation in Vladivostok is especially indicative, where charges of extremism were brought immediately against six women of advanced age: Elena Zayshchuk (85 years old), Raisa Usanova (72 years old), Nina Purge (79 years old), Naili Kogai (68 years old), Lyubov Galaktionova ( 73 years old) and Nadezhda Anoikina (62 years old). Due to the stress received due to the actions of security forces, women’s poor health worsens.
In addition, the prosecution adversely affected the financial situation of innocent people. Naila Kogai completely lost her livelihood, since all her savings were blocked with the beginning of the criminal prosecution.
On the same charges, two pensioners from Spassk-Dalniy (Primorsky Territory) – Olga Panyuta (60 years old) and Olga Opaleva (67 years old) may be in prison . They spent 2 days in a temporary detention center, and then 357 days under house arrest.
For Opaleva, such upheavals could have cost their lives. On the night before the search, doctors diagnosed her with a heart attack, after which she spent 2 days in a prison cell. And during one of the trips to the court right in the escort car , she suffered a stroke , resulting in paralysis of the entire left side of the body, as well as severe headaches. The criminal case is not closed.
Other women of respectable age fell under an article on extremism due to religious beliefs:
- Valentina Baranovskaya (68 years old) from Abakan (Khakassia) ;
- Maya Karpushkina (70 years old) from Khabarovsk ;
- Lyudmila Ponomarenko (69 years old) from Rostov-on-Don ;
- Zinaida Krutyakova (61 years old) from the Moscow region ;
- Vera Zolotova (73 years old) from Yelizovo (Kamchatka Territory) ;
- Svetlana Ryzhkova (66 years old) from Shui (Ivanovo region) ;
- Lyubov Asatryan (69 years old) and Galina Dergacheva (63 years old) from Magadan ;
- Valentina Vladimirova (63 years old) and Tatyana Galkevich (60 years old) from Smolensk ;
- Valentina Suvorova (71 years old) from Chelyabinsk ;
A group of armed security officers ransacked a 87-year-old Olga Verevkina from Kaluga. “A complete brigade in camouflage militants. The judgment was not shown. They say: “Get up!” I answer: “I can’t, I am weak.” My blood pressure rose from 200 to 115, ”says Olga herself.
Often during special events, security officials make excuses: they say, no personal complaints to believers, it’s just a job. But, given that the intimidating actions of the security forces constitute a real threat to the lives of elderly peaceful women, some are wondering: are such harsh measures justified? Commenting on the raids in Kaluga, lawyer Anton Omelchenko said: “If our law enforcement officers gather a crowd to put on an elderly woman, put on masks, take weapons with them, then what cowards they are!”
The criminal case against 78-year-old Kaleria Mamykina , who has been under surveillance for more than a year, stands apart . According to investigators, reading the Bible and talking with friends about God are criminal acts. The investigation in her case lasted seven months, until the investigator concluded that the accused “exercised her right to freedom of religion, as provided for in Art. 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and therefore there is no corpus delicti in its actions. ”
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