A Chityna schoolgirl was sent to a pre-trial detention center for graffiti

The court in Chita toughened the detention of 17-year-old schoolgirl Lyubov Lyzunova, who is being prosecuted for the graffiti “Death to the regime”, from house arrest to detention in a pre-trial detention center. This was reported by Omsk student Alexander Snezhkov, the second accused in this case, in a letter to activist Anastasia Shevchenko.

“Lyuba was also arrested. She will finish 10th grade in pre-trial detention center,” wrote Snezhkov, who has been in the pretrial detention center in Omsk since January 2023. It is not known what is the reason for the change in the measure of suppression.

According to the investigation, in October 2022, Snezhkov and Lizunova painted graffiti “Death to the regime” in a garage cooperative in Chita. In total, they are charged with three articles of the Criminal Code: incitement to carry out terrorist activities and extremism, as well as vandalism motivated by political hatred, reports “Nastoyaschee Vremya”.

Graffiti was the immediate reason for the prosecution of Snezhkov and Lyzunova, however, in the case file, FSB officers cite the Shugan-25 and 75zlo telegram channels, which, in their opinion, were administered by the suspects. In particular, these channels mentioned in a positive way the arson of military enlistment offices and sabotage on the railway, as well as protests against the war in Ukraine, writes Sibir.Realii.

FSB officers detained Snezhkov and Lyzunova on October 31, 2022 in Chita. After that, the suspects were under a restraining order. On December 10, 2022, Rosfinmonitoring entered them into the register of persons involved in terrorist or extremist activities. In January 2023, it became known that Alexander Snezhkov is in the Omsk pre-trial detention center.

• Since the beginning of the war against Ukraine, more than ten thousand Russians have been convicted in administrative and criminal cases for speaking out against the war with Ukraine. Most often, protocols and criminal cases are filed against them under the articles of “discrediting” and “fakes”, however, the article about vandalism motivated by political hatred is also regularly used for political prosecution. For example, in February 2024, in the Kemerovo Region, a 75-year-old resident of Novokuznetsk, Raisa Mikhaleva, was sentenced to one year and two months in prison for anti-war graffiti.