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Aleksandra Skochilenko

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In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Yurevna and the family name is Skochilenko.

Aleksandra Skochilenko
Александра Скочиленко
Born (1990-09-13) 13 September 1990 (age 34)
Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg)
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Artist
  • musician

Aleksandra Yuryevna Skochilenko (Russian: Александра Юрьевна Скочиленко; born 13 September 1990), also known as Sasha Skochilenko, is a Russian artist, musician, poet, and former political prisoner.

Skochilenko was detained in April 2022 for distributing anti-war messages in Saint Petersburg. Amnesty International declared Skochilenko a prisoner of conscience, the Memorial human rights organization recognized her as a political prisoner, and the BBC included her on its 100 Women in 2022. In November 2023, Skochilenko was sentenced to seven years in prison under Russia's "fake news" law.

She was released in Ankara on 1 August 2024 as part of a complex international exchange of prisoners. Analyzing the event for CNN, Nathan Hodge wrote that Skochilenko's experience "laid bare the absurdity of Russia’s draconian wartime media laws".[1]

Biography

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Aleksandra Skochilenko was born in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia). She attended the Smolny College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Saint Petersburg State University. She is the author of Book About Depression (2014), which helped destigmatise mental health issues in Russia. She is an open lesbian and her partner participated in publicizing her criminal case and the conditions of her detention.[2]

Protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine

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See also: Protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Russian 2022 war censorship laws

Activism and arrest

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Skochilenko joined several protests against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. At a protest on 3 March 2022 in the centre of Saint Petersburg, she was arrested and detained overnight. She was fined 10,000 rubles.[3]

On 11 April 2022, Skochilenko was arrested for "putting fragments of paper in place of price tags, containing information about the use of the Russian armed forces" in a Perekrestok supermarket on 31 March.[4] The messages attributed to her included information about the Mariupol theatre airstrike on 16 March: "The Russian army bombed an art school in Mariupol where about 400 people were hiding from the shelling."[5] Skochilenko was accused of being motivated by "political hatred for Russia" and jailed for eight weeks pending trial.[4]

She was charged under Article 207.3 part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the recently introduced Russian wartime censorship laws. She faced a sentence of up to ten years imprisonment.[4] In a letter from jail in April 2022, Skochilenko wrote: "It just so happened that I represent everything that the Putin regime is so intolerant of: creativity, pacifism, LGBT, psycho-enlightenment, feminism, humanism, and love for everything bright, ambiguous, unusual."[2] On 30 May, the Saint Petersburg District Court extended her pre-trial detention until July in a closed hearing.[6] In early June, she was temporarily transferred to a psychiatric hospital, where staff refused to treat her for abdominal pain and refused to share information about her condition with her lawyer and partner. On 30 June, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs's Centre for Combating Extremism issued a report alleging that Skochilenko was a member of the Eighth Initiative Group, which it described as a "radical protest feminist group". Skochilenko denied knowledge of the group. Following those claims, the court extended her pre-trial detention until September.[7]

An illustration showing Aleksandra Skochilenko being dragged away by the police

Human rights groups raised concerns about the conditions of her detention, as she suffers from a congenital heart defect, PTSD, and coeliac disease, the last of which requires a gluten-free diet that she was not being provided, resulting in significant weight loss.[8] Her partner was also denied permission to visit her while in detention.[9] In a July interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Skochilenko raised additional concerns about possible mistreatment, saying that she and the other prisoners in her cell had been forced to clean the cell three times a day by hand and the television in the cell was restricted to war films and pro-government news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[10]

On 7 July 2023, she was ordered to remain in pretrial detention until 10 October.[11]

Verdict

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On 16 November 2023, she was sentenced in a Saint Petersburg court to seven years imprisonment for replacing supermarket price tags with antiwar slogans in 2022.[12][13][14][15] In her statement to the court before the verdict was announced, she told the presiding judge: "Your honour, you have a unique opportunity to show an example to society with your verdict ... You can show how to resolve conflict with the help of words and compassion."[16]

Recognition and support

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In June 2022, Memorial designated Skochilenko a political prisoner[17][18] and Amnesty International declared her a prisoner of conscience.[19][20] She was named as one of the BBC's 100 Women in 2022.[21]

From 31 March to 29 April 2023, The Koppel Project in London hosted an exhibition titled "SKOCHILENKO: THE PRICE OF FREEDOM".[22] Curated by the Russian Democratic Society,[23] this event showcased her works, known for their poignant and thought-provoking pieces that delve into themes of freedom, expression, and political activism.[24]

Her activism and imprisonment were featured in two PBS "Frontline" television documentaries: Putin’s War at Home (2022) and Sasha & Sonia: A Russian Love Story (2023).[25]

Release

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Skochilenko's mother, Nadezhda Skochilenko, feared authorities would impose additional charges against her daughter when, in July 2024, some political prisoners were moved to new locations. She had one day's notice that she would be released.[26] Skochilenko later reported being taken from her Saint Petersburg cell, moved without explanation, and threatened with death for asking what was happening. She said: "It felt like we were being taken out to be shot."[27] On 1 August 2024, Skochilenko was released in Ankara as part of the 2024 Ankaran prisoner exchange.[28] She arrived that night in Cologne and was held in a quarantine hospital.[27] Her mother said: "She is continuing to believe that miracles are possible. She has shown that if you are kind and pro-peace then good things can happen."[26] Skochilenko's partner, Sonia Subbotina, confirmed that Skochilenko was preparing to travel from Ankara to Cologne with most of the other released Russians.[29]

References

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  1. ^ Hodge, Nathan (1 August 2024). "What a historic prisoner swap means for Vladimir Putin's Russia". CNN. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b "У меня уже отняли семью. Что мне теперь терять?". Девушка Саши Скочиленко — о жизни после ее задержания и проблемах с передачами ["My family has already been taken away from me. What do I have to lose now?". Sasha Skochilenko's girlfriend – about life after her detention and problems with parcels]. Bumaga (in Russian). 25 April 2022. Archived from the original on 27 April 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Human price carrier". Novaya Gazeta Europe. Translated by Aitmatova, Asia. 20 May 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  4. ^ a b c "Russian artist faces jail over peace protest using supermarket price labels". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 13 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  5. ^ "Russian Artist Faces 10 Years in Prison for Protesting War on Price Tags". The Moscow Times. 13 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Hearing on extension of pre-trial detention of Aleksandra Skochilenko". Autonomous Action. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Russian Federation: Further information: Artist's pretrial detention extended again: Aleksandra Skochilenko". Amnesty International. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  8. ^ Дело Саши Скочиленко о ценниках. День десятый [The Sasha Skochilenko receipt affair. Day 10]. Mediazona (in Russian). 13 June 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Russia: Artist Faces up to 10 Years for Anti-War Action". Amnesty International. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  10. ^ "'My Country Thirsts for Blood': Russian Artist, Jailed for War 'Fakes,' Speaks Out from Custody". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 18 July 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  11. ^ Astakhova, Alexandra (7 July 2023). "Sasha Skochilenko Trial: 7 July 2023". The Russian Reader. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  12. ^ Osborn, Andrew (16 November 2023). "Russian artist who staged anti-war protest in supermarket jailed for seven years". Reuters. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Художницу Сашу Скочиленко приговорили к 7 годам колонии по делу об антивоенных ценниках. Без необходимых лекарств и диеты девушка может умереть от остановки сердца". Новая газета Европа. 19 May 1974. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  14. ^ Roth, Andrew (16 November 2023). "Russian artist jailed for seven years over Ukraine war price tag protest". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Russian artist who protested Ukraine war gets 7 years in prison in latest crackdown on free speech". AP News. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Russia jails artist over anti-war supermarket protest". Deutsche Welle. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  17. ^ ""Мемориал" признал политзаключенной петербургскую художницу Александру Скочиленко". Настоящее Время (in Russian). 3 June 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Мемориал" признал политзаключенной петербургскую художницу Александру Скочиленко [Memorial recognised St. Petersburg artist Aleksandra Skochilenko as a political prisoner] (in Russian). Current Time TV. 3 June 2022. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  19. ^ "Amnesty International Declares Russian Price-Tag Artist Prisoner Of Conscience". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  20. ^ "Amnesty International Declares Russian Price-Tag Artist Prisoner Of Conscience". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 22 June 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  21. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2022: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  22. ^ "Skochilenko: The Price of Freedom | 31 March - 29 April 2023". The Koppel Project. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  23. ^ "Jailed Russian artist exhibits in Hampstead police cells". Ham & High. 9 March 2023. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Sasha Skochilenko and the Unbearable High Price of Freedom". Art Focus Now. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  25. ^ Taddonio, Patrice (2 August 2024). "Russian Artist Whose Anti-War Protest Was Featured in FRONTLINE Documentary Is Released in Historic Prisoner Swap". PBS. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  26. ^ a b "Relatives Of Freed Russians Express Relief, Disbelief". Barron's. Agence France Presse. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  27. ^ a b Berkhead, Samantha (2 August 2024). "'If You Talk You'll Go into a Bag': Freed Russian Political Prisoners Recount Harrowing, Surprising Prison Swap". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  28. ^ "Who's in the massive prisoner swap between Russia and the West?". AP News. August 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  29. ^ Kishkovsky, Sophia (1 August 2024). "Russian dissident artist released as part of historic prisoner swap". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
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