September 5, 2023
Russian mathematician and anarchist Azat Miftakhov was arrested on new felony charges on Monday, immediately after his release from the prison where he had just finished serving a years-long sentence in a separate case. He stands accused of “justifying terrorism.”
During Miftakhov’s remand hearing on Tuesday, investigators said that he “promoted terrorism among convicts” while being an “active member of the terrorist organization People’s Self-Defense.” In particular, they allege that on May 21, Miftakhov “deliberately engaged in public justification of terrorism in the presence of two convicts” while in the penal colony IK-17.
The case against Miftakhov is based on the testimonies of two prisoners and one other witness whose identity is classified, as reported by Mediazona. According to the records from the interrogation of an inmate with the last name Gadzhimuratov, on May 21, while the inmates were watching a news segment about the war, Miftakhov said that he would have liked to “avenge” the death of a friend who died while fighting on the side of Ukraine. Another inmate with the last name Trushkov reportedly said, during questioning, that Miftakhov spoke about the need to “blow up FSB officers” and said that “the war against the occupiers should be fought not just in Ukraine but also in Russia.”
