Anarchists First!!

 

       Prisons, by themselves, are barbaric institutions of state repression, no matter the treatment the inmates receive. However it is within these institutions that the state sinks to the lowest level of depravity, callous cruelty and inhumanity. Those incarcerated in these swamps of inhumanity, see their very basic human rights abandoned at the whim of the state's mercenaries. Inside these state repression units, the normal rules of humanity no longer apply, you are there to be made an example of, you are used to deter you and others from any form of resistance to the state's control. Anyone who finds themselves enmeshed in this vicious inhuman system deserves all the solidarity and support that we can muster. At the moment it seems that, in many countries, anarchists are at the sharp end of this savage state treatment. "First they came for the anarchists---". Freedom can only rise when prisons crumble.

This from 325: 

Urgent news about comrade Ilya Romanov (Russia)

March 8th, 2020

IT/FR

       On February 18 and 19, there were rallies in Moscow in solidarity with Ilya Romanov, who, at the moment, is locked up in a penal colony in Mordovia [Eastern European Russia, near Nizhny Novgorod; NdAtt.]. In October 2019, Ilya had a stroke. Since then, he has been locked up in the penal colony hospital, a facility which is not suitable for treating his condition, which is still very critical. Indeed, the comrade is partially paralyzed (apparently half of his body is paralyzed). Ilya still has difficulty speaking, eating and being independent, even in the smallest gestures of everyday life. Ilya’s family and his lawyers were made aware of the stroke days after it happened, and the neurologist’s visit took place only two and a half weeks afterwards. He is not in any rehabilitation process and all the lawyers’ requests to have him transferred to a suitable hospital have been rejected; for weeks neither his family nor his lawyers were able to meet him or understand the gravity of his situation. It was not until November 28 that one of his lawyers was able to meet Ilya; The lawyer said that Ilya is paralyzed down one half of his body and cannot speak. He urgently needs the help of a speech therapist, as well as other doctors, but he is not allowed any specialist. Ilya is left to himself in a bed on a ward where he is locked up and he has been fed porridge for months. His neighbors on his ward in adjacent beds said that even the nurses in the ward never take care of him, but the inmates working there do it. On December 4, the medical commission of the penal colony again gave a negative opinion regarding Ilya’s transfer to a suitable hospital, because his condition did not seem serious enough to be incompatible with detention (!!!). The lawyers continue to use the legal channels and apparently his family has called to the European Commission of Human Rights.

     For those who do not know Ilya, some words on his journey: Ilya has participated in anarchist actions and demonstrations since the end of the 1980s. In 2002, he was arrested in Ukraine, accused of arms trafficking and of terrorism, as well as the preparation of an explosive device which was to be placed in front of a building of the Ukrainian secret services, to protest against the violent expulsion of a rally, Place Maidan, carried out by the police in October 2002. For this, Ilya was sentenced to 10 years in jail. On his release in 2013, he returned to Russia and had an accident during the manufacture of a firecracker [according to other sources, the device exploded while he placed it in front of a recruitment office of the army, in Nizhny Novgorod, October 26, 2013 ; NdAtt.]. Because of this accident, he had his left hand amputated and was condemned to another 10 years in prison, for terrorism, the sentence of which was transformed into nine years in a penal colony. He still has six years to serve. The way Ilya was treated is just one more sign of the brutality the Russian state has been using lately against anarchists. Ilya is a comrade who has never compromised with power, and that’s why they want to silence him.

Those who would like to help him and his relatives will find below the account number of his ex-wife and companion Larisa Romanova, as well as the Paypal account open for Ilya. Letters, postcards, expressions of affection are appreciated (when Ilya cannot read, there are bed neighbors in his ward who can help him. For obvious reasons, however, he will not be able to answer letters).

       For economic support: account n. 5368 2900 5608 4546 (holder Larisa Valerievna Romanova, bank: VTB)
Paypal account address: abc-msk @ riseup.net

To write to him:

FKU LPU num 21 UFSIN Rossii po Respublike Mordovija,
431200, Respublika Mordovija, Ten’gushevskij rajon, p. Barashevo,
Ul. Shtabnaja, d. 1,
Romanovu Il’e Eduardovicu (Bol’nica N. 2)
Russia

The address in Cyrillic letters:

ФКУ ЛПУ № 21 УФСИН России по Республике Мордовия,
431200, Республика Мордовия, Теньгушевский район, п. Барашево,
ул. Штабная, д. 1,
Романову Илье Эдуардовичу (Больница № 2)
Российская федерация.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk