In the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Marat Grachev and his staff at his computer repair shop in Moscow discussed how to express their opposition in an environment where any disagreement is tacit.
Grachev, 35, said it seemed useless to take to the streets as protesters were abducted by police moments after waving signs.
So they came up with a digital solution.
On one of their computer monitors, they put the words “No War” in Russian, hoping the act would send a lasting message to those who visit his business.
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Marat Grachev, 35, is in his computer service in Moscow, where he was forced to change a screen with the words “No War” and was fined 100,000 rubles (Dmitry Kozlov / CBC)
The sign lasted until March 31.
“We are pleasantly surprised that we managed to work for a whole month and our clients did not betray us,” Grachev told CBC in an interview at his store in Moscow.
But that changed when a passerby noticed the screen and told officers he would call the police if they didn’t take him down.
When they did not, officials appeared on March 31. Grachev recorded the interaction when a police officer grabbed the remote control to turn off the monitor and began questioning all his staff, insisting that they go down to the station.
When Grachev asked if they could refuse, an officer told him that if they did, the police could take them by force. In the end, Grachev was fined 100,000 rubles, equivalent to about 1,500 Cdn.
A screenshot from a video recorded by Grachev when police showed up at his computer repair shop in Moscow after a passer-by said he had a screen reading “No War” in Russian. (Submission by Marat Grachev)
Hundreds arrested
Grachev is one of at least 400 people who have been fined or detained under new Russian laws against anyone believed to be discrediting the military or publishing and sharing fake news, according to OVD-info, a Moscow-based human rights group. , which provides legal support in about a quarter of cases.
Authorities even intervened with well-intentioned forms of protest, including a man holding a sheet of paper that apparently represented “No War” in Russian and a man handing out copies of George Orwell’s 1984 dystopian novel.
She was also a woman in Crimea according to reports detained after someone thinks that her blue and yellow manicure is too political – because her nails are made in the colors of Ukraine.
Absolutely crazy. St. Petersburg-based artist Alexandra Skochilenko has been remanded in custody pending prosecution for deliberately prosecuting for spreading “false information” about the Russian military by exchanging military facts on price tags at a local grocery store. A client reported her to the police. pic.twitter.com/noDIeHIZOj
– @ KevinRothrock
Legal observers say there has been a shift in the rhetoric of government officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, encouraging citizens to eradicate those who do not support what the country insists it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Priests, teachers and activists were detained and fined. Some face the prospect of years in custody.
Grachev was held at the police station for four hours and his phone confiscated, but said officers initially warned him he would have to remain in custody overnight and be fined nearly $ 5,000.
He said the tone of the police officer he worked with had changed dramatically when a “human rights defender” with ATS-Info appeared at the station.
Alexandra Baeva, head of the legal department of the ATS-Info, said that in one case the police were called to a bar after a woman made a comment about the war in Ukraine. (Dmitry Kozlov / CBC)
The organization, which has been declared a foreign agent by the Russian government and has one of its websites blocked, maintains a hotline for people facing political persecution.
Alexandra Baeva, who heads the legal department of the ATS-Info, said her group is aware of 15,000 arrests of anti-war protesters and more than 400 administrative cases related to the new laws from February 24th.
Online, then published a current list of cases involving a Crimean craftsman accused of printing and distributing leaflets allegedly containing “false information” about the Russian military, and a Muscovite jailed for driving around the city with an anti-war flag on his car.
A criminal case has been filed against a teacher from Penza, a town 650 kilometers southeast of Moscow.
In an audio recording shared on Russian social media, 55-year-old Irina Gen was recorded by one of her classmates when one of her 8th grade students asked why they could no longer participate in a European sporting event.
She could be heard explaining that she thought Russia’s ban was “right” and would continue until the country acted in a “civilized way.”
Promoting denunciation
Baeva said she was aware of another case in which a woman commented on the Russian military at a bar and later called police.
“It is possible to go back to the time when people joined this political persecution,” Baeva said, adding that she understood why so many people were now being compared to Stalin-era repression in modern Russia.
In a March 17 address, Putin signaled a shift to even greater repression when he mentioned “national traitors” who make a living in the country but whose minds are in line with Western thinking.
He spoke about the need for Russians to distinguish between “true patriots and scum” and how society will be strengthened only through self-purification.
The same week an independent newspaper New newspaperwho has since suspended operations after receiving warnings from Russia’s communications regulator said Kaliningrad residents have received text messages urging them to send information related to any “provocateurs” in connection with the “special military operation” in Ukraine.
High arrest
While Russians face accusations of even the slightest criticism, high-ranking opponents of the government remain at high risk, including Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was arrested on April 11 after stopping at his apartment building in Moscow.
Kara-Murza, a close ally of slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemstov, who twice became seriously ill after alleged poisoning, is a fierce critic of the Kremlin and often speaks to the Western media. He also contributed to the Washington Post.
Ministry of Global Affairs of Canada tweets said his arrest was “deeply worrying”.
Kara-Murza, who has visited Canada many times, spoke to the House of Commons about Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian tax adviser who died in prison after being jailed for exposing widespread corruption.
Hours before his arrest last week, he was interviewed by CNN and described Russia as a “murderer regime.”
In an interview with CBC, Evgenia Kara-Murza said she was worried that her husband Vladimir Kara-Murza could be charged with additional crimes and held in custody for much longer. (Presented by Evgenia Kara-Murza)
His wife, Evgenia Kara-Murza, who lives in the United States, told CBC News that he was sentenced to 15 days in prison for trying to escape from police.
“The accusation is magnificent in its absurdity,” she said.
“You know, when you get this special treatment from the Russian regime, you realize that your voice is actually being heard.
She said the official police report said he had tried to change direction and speed up to get away from police, but he told her police had come to his car after he parked. and arrested him.
She fears that two weeks in prison could be just the beginning of a longer period of detention, as authorities could bring additional charges to keep him in custody.
Vladimir Kara-Murza appeared in court with his lawyer, Vadim Prokorov, on Tuesday, as he was sentenced to 15 days in custody. (Submitted by Vadim Prokhorov)
Kara-Murza, who spends part of his time abroad, recently visited London for dinner with Bill Browder, author and chairman of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign.
“It’s extremely worrying he’s in custody,” Browder told the CBC.
“All we can do is pray for his safe release from this terrible situation.”
Browder, who was once Russia’s largest foreign investor and had just written his second book detailing money laundering and killings in the country, said Putin had shifted his regime from authoritarian to totalitarian.
“In practice, there is martial law and full-scale war. There is no media, no information. Anyone who raises his voice in a small way is arrested.”
Incentive for business
For Grachev, he and a lawyer plan to appeal the fine he received to reduce it, but he said a fundraiser organized by a friend raised more than enough money to cover the sentence.
The “no to war” sign is no longer in his computer repair shop, but instead another screen reminds his customers of the business’s position.
It says that the company had a poster, but removed it after a fine.
“A lot of clients come to us now … because of this situation.
“This episode has only had a positive effect on our business.”
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