A Russian court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of three young poets who took part in a reading of a text against mobilization to fight in Ukraine, one of whom claimed to have been raped by police while in detention.
According to the Russian non-governmental organization (NGO) OVD-Info, Artiom Kamardine, Egor Chtovba and Nikolaï Daïneko have been in protective custody for two months.
The NGO said they are suspects in an investigation opened by “incitement to hatred with threat of use of force”.
If charged, they could face up to six years in prison as Russian authorities are currently suppressing criticism of the conflict in Ukraine.
On Sunday, the three men took part in a reading in front of the statue of the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, in central Moscow, where dissident intellectuals gathered during the Soviet era.
The next day, Artyom Karadine was arrested during a house search.
According to his lawyer Leonid Solovev, quoted by the independent Russian press, Karadine claims to have been beaten and raped with a dumbbell during his detention.
The channel 112 of the Telegram message service, close to the Russian police, published a video in which the young man apologized on his knees.
During a speech in court Wednesday night, Karadine claimed that this apology was obtained “under torture”. At the trial, he appeared with scars and a bandage on his face.
Nikolaï Daïneko was arrested on Sunday during poetry readings and fined for “unauthorized demonstration”. Daïneko was released on Monday and arrested again, OVD-Info reports.
Source: DN
