Russia: ‘I sacrificed myself to the regime, but I am not a terrorist’

From the telegram channel of Solidarity Zone, set up in Russia to support people persecuted for anti-war actions

Igor Paskar is the first to be tried [in Russia] for anti-war arson as a “terrorist”.

On June 14, 2022, Igor painted his face in the colours of the Ukrainian flag and threw a Molotov cocktail at the FSB [federal security service] headquarters in Krasnodar.

The FSB investigator charged him with committing a “terrorist act” (Part 1, Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Paskar is also accused of setting fire to a banner with the letter Z and the inscription “We don’t leave our men behind”, which is qualified as “vandalism” (part 2 of article 214 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

“It was a public action. If I had disappeared, it would have lost all meaning”, says Paskar, answering the question of why he did not try to escape.

I am not a terrorist warrior who hides. I wanted to express my opinion, it was a cry. I am a simple person, a simple hard worker, like those who live in Ukraine, in the war zone. I sacrificed myself to the regime, but I am not a terrorist. What kind of a terrorist? That’s ridiculous.

Igor faces up to 15 years in prison on the charges.

First, Igor Paskar was sent to the FSB-controlled pre-trial detention centre-5 in Krasnodar — an analogue of the Moscow “Lefortovo”. For all the time Igor was there, not a single letter [of those sent] was handed to him.

On October 26, Igor was transferred to SIZO-1 [detention centre] in Krasnodar, where letters were given to him. And then he was transferred to Rostov-on-Don, where the trial of his case began.

Now the case of Igor Paskar is being considered in the Southern District Military Court, since only four military courts in Russia have been considering cases of a “terrorist orientation” since 2014.

Igor says about himself: “As far as I can remember, from a young age I have never been indifferent to what is happening in our country”. In 2020, Paskar came to the Belarusian embassy to support Lukashenka’s opponents, and in 2021 he participated in winter protests in support of Alexei Navalny.

On January 9, Igor Paskar for the first time had the opportunity to speak publicly in court — then he spoke about the torture after his arrest. The FSB officers tortured Paskar with electric shocks and also used sexual violence. At first, Igor was tortured “just like that,” and then they began to demand that he spoke about accomplices and curators from Ukraine. After that, Paskar was forced to invent a non-existent person, and sign the testimony required of him.

Ways to support Igor Paskar – from Solidarity Zone

You can support Igor with a letter or postcard by sending it to:

SIZO-1, 219 Maxim Gorky street, Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation 344022

Paskar Igor Konstantinovich, born in 1976

It is possible to send letters through the electronic service “Zonatelecom” (sending from anywhere in the world, subject to payment by a Russian card) and the volunteer resource “Rosuznik” (sending from anywhere in the world and the ability to remain anonymous).

You can support Igor Paskar financially (the money will be used to pay for parcels and travel expenses for a lawyer) using the details:

PayPal: solidarity_zone@riseup.net (marked “for Pascar”, please indicate the currency in euro if possible).

Cryptocurrency (be sure to write to us at solidarity_zone@riseup.net if you transfer cryptocurrency to support Igor Paskar):

Monero: 4B1tm6boA5ST6hLdfnPRG2Np9XMHCTiyhE6QaFo46QXp6tZ7Y6nJjE43xBBTwHM84bWwexR8nS4KH36JHujjc1kC8j2Mx5e

Bitcoin: bc1qn404lrshp3q9gd7852d7w85sa09aq0ch28s3v4

Ethereum: 0x7CE361fA7dAb77D028eaEF7Bbe2943FDF0655D3E

Other altcoins: https://nowpayments.io/donation/solidarityzone

Solidarity Zone provides comprehensive support to Igor Paskar.

About Solidarity Zone – from their facebook page

Hey! You are in the Solidarity Zone.

Solidarity Zone is a horizontal initiative supporting those persecuted for anti-war actions. We came together in the spring of 2022 to help those left without attention by human rights organizations.

Everyone is worthy of defense and solidarity. And we stand in solidarity with people who have spoken out in word and deed against state violence. We are against the existence of prisons, states and war — for self-organization, equality and the abolition of oppression.

We are ready to support those who speak out against war and resist militarism, with the exception of people who practice discrimination on national, gender, social and other grounds. At the same time, our project team consists of only a few people, and we do not have enough resources, so we are currently working on a small number of cases.

We would like to point out that we don’t pay any fines or compensation for damages caused to the state. We also do not help people who voluntarily testify against others. Pleading or not pleading guilty is not a limiting factor.

Our objectives are:

Establish and maintain contact with detainees and their loved ones;

Find lawyers whom we trust;

Arrange parcels or packages for prisoners;

Share information about the cases and addresses for letters with the consent of those who are persecuted.

You can share information about prisoners who need support by writing to us. You can also direct your questions about current cases that our initiative is already working on. E-mail: solidarity_zone@riseup.net

We have no permanent source of funding and do not get paid, so the support is being provided thanks to your donations. We encourage you to support our project financially, if you are in a position to do so.

Requisites for transfers:

Sberbank card:

4276 7201 3618 1221 (Daria T.)

PayPal: solidarity_zone@riseup.net

Cryptocurrency:

bitcoin: bc1qfzhfkd27ckz76dqf67t0jwm4gvrcug49e7fhry

Monero: 86565hecMGW7n2T1ap7wdo4wQ7kefaqXVPS8h2k2wQVhDHyYbADmDWZTuxpUMZPjZhSLpLp2SZZ8cLKdJkRchVWJBppbgBK

Ethereum: 0xD89Cf5e0B04b1a546e869500Fe96463E9986ADA3

other altcoins:

https://nowpayments.io/donation/solidarityzone

□ Solidarity Zone is on Patreon here