If everyone leaves, who will fight torture?”

“If everyone leaves, who will fight torture?”

Ural human rights defender Alexey Sokolov used to collect information about torture, and now he is accused of treason.

“In my human rights work, I have repeatedly had to think about the safety of myself and my family. I was repeatedly urged to leave the country. But I will not leave, because if everyone leaves, who will fight torture? Who will fight the lawlessness of officials who represent the state?”

This is an excerpt from Sokolov’s final statement. Last week, he was sentenced to two years of forced labor over the Facebook logo in the “Human Rights Defenders of the Urals” Telegram channel.

Sokolov did not admit guilt and called the case fabricated. Incidentally, it is not the only one. At the end of last year, another case was opened against him, this time under the article on treason. No verdict has yet been handed down in that case.

▶️ Who is Alexey Sokolov, and what made the authorities target him?

Sokolov is one of the founders of the organization “Human Rights Defenders of the Urals,” which helped prisoners challenge unlawful actions by FSIN staff and publicized cases of violence and other abuses in pretrial detention centers and penal colonies.

According to Sokolov, the charges are connected to the fact that he shared information about torture in Russia with foreign organizations, including the UN. In the FSB’s view, this created a “security threat” to the state.

While in custody, the Yekaterinburg resident was kept in a punishment cell for several months. Pretrial detention center staff found various reasons to discipline him, for example, one of them was an unbuttoned button. He also complained about the cold in the cell and the resulting deterioration of his health.

At the end of April, the human rights defender filed seven lawsuits against the detention center over groundless disciplinary reprimands. Sokolov and his defense called those reprimands a provocation.

▶️ How can you support Alexey Sokolov? Write him a letter!

You can do this through the Zonatelecom service or by regular mail:

620019, Sverdlovsk Region, Yekaterinburg, 4 Repina St., Federal State Institution SIZO-1 of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Sverdlovsk Region, Sokolov Alexey Veniaminovich, born 1973.

💌 If you have never written to political prisoners before, read our guide — it will help you get your bearings on where to start, what you can write about, and which letters censors will not allow through.

Alexey Sokolov / Photo: Mediazona❗️ Sharing this post publicly may be unsafe because the Russian authorities have declared OVD-Info an extremist organization. But you can still read and like us!