Russian prisoner artist: My country thirsts for blood, including mine

I have no hope. The investigative committee and its head, Alexandr Bastrykin, have personally chosen me to suffer the severest possible punishment”, she told the REL's Northern Realities.

The 32-year-old artist who often uses only the name Sasha was arrested in April after she changed five price labels to a message shop against Ukraine's unprotested Russian invasion. It has been charged with distributing false “ ” information concerning the armed forces and may face up to ten years in prison.

My state is thirsting for blood”, she said. “include mine”.

Despite the fragile state of health and the nonviolent nature of the prosecution, Scochilenko admits that he has changed the price labels, but denies that he has said something false or slanderous. It is located in a detention centre for more than three months. The detention measure has been extended until 1 August, and staying in custody could be extended even longer.

Radio Free Europe was able to send written questions to Scolchilenko about this interview, and she wrote back through her lawyer.

Including Skochilenkon, at least 73 people in Russia have been charged under a tough law adopted several days after the start of Ukraine's large-scale invasion on 24 February. Most of the defendants are politicians, journalists, priests, activists and even police officials. On July 8th, Moscow municipal lawmaker Alexei Gorinov was sentenced to seven years in prison under the law.

Skochilenko said prison officials have been reluctant to accommodate its dietary restrictions because it has intolerance to gluten, despite pressure from civil society activists and its lawyers, so that prison allows a proper diet for it.

I constantly have stomach pain and sometimes puke when I'm eating”, said no. “Imagine living daily with symptoms of food poisoning. This is my life now”.

She also started having heart problems that she had managed to control since she was a teenager.

In the last two months, I have heart pain”, she told REL. “Time from time to time, vision gets darker, I have trouble breathing, chest tights, dizziness and pain on my left hand”

She added that she worries that her cellmate won't be able to call for help if she loses consciousness at night or that the ambulance will not arrive in time to help.

Strange rules

Initially, Skochilenko was placed in a standard cell with six prisoners, and one of the inmates was a “trusted”, called Yelena. Officially, Yelena was responsible for ensuring that the cell would be kept clean, but in reality, Skochilenko said, her task was to make life miserable for the artist.

Before everyone, she told me that I opposed and forced me to wash all my clothes by”, Scochilenko said. “She looked at me all the time and forced me to clean the toilet with a sponge instead of the” brush.

There are other strange rules she invented, such as you can only keep the broom in a certain way”, Scochilenko added. We had to clean up the cell three times a day. For cleaning every surface there was a special rag, and all the rags had to be washed by hand after we cleaned the cell... [Yelena] didn't let anyone open the fridge and let us eat only at certain times... She left the TV on all day and watched war movies or watched news about special military operation”.

Yelene, according to Scochilenkos, later softened her sentence and was sent to home prison.

Officials also appear to be aiming to prove Skochilenko is mentally disabled. A prison psychiatrist, who checked in the detention center, concluded that Scochilenko was capable.

Despite this, investigators insisted that she be sent to a psychiatric hospital for a two - week evaluation. A committee of five doctors and a consultant” also concluded that Scochilenco is capable and does not need psychotrope drugs.

“Perhaps they did so as an additional form to pressure me or perhaps they just want to embarrass me as much as they can”, Skochilenko said. After she returned from hospital to prison, investigators asked her to submit another psychiatric evaluation to prison.

According to Skochilenko, the conclusion of mental disability can be used to justify a mandatory treatment of treatment. She said one of the psychiatrists who controlled “continued to insist that I go to church”.

Scochilenco's been suffering for a long time, but he was being treated by bipolar disorder, which includes periods of paralyzing “depression”. However, she said her situation was not a special problem for her ever since she was arrested.

The entire scores that I spent working on my mental health and education, including consultations with doctors, medicines, years of psychic therapy and participation in seminars, have proved to be effective”, Skochilenko told REL. And I've received a lot of support, which has helped me to cope with my “arrest.

Authorities are seriously scared”

She said she did not regret putting information about Russia's war in Ukraine on price tags, even though the “five labels set my fate”.

A whole group of police was created to find me, and after ten days they caught me”, she related. “Of course, I never did hide”.

She believes Bastrykin and other investigators are aiming to punish her as much as they can because they're extremely scared”.

When a person is terribly afraid, he tends to see major threats somewhere where there is nothing”, she said. I don't know how to shoot. I can't fight. Sometimes I suffer from paralyzing depression. My health is weak. Even under a little stress, I immediately have symptoms. I love people, children and animals. I'm a bad candidate for organising an armed rebellion. But fear is an unreasonable”.

“If everyone who is unjustly pursued in Russia, I sometimes fear”, she said. I am here and will probably die in prison for freedom of expression and pacifism”.

But my belief in freedom of speech and humanity is stronger than my” fear, it ended. / REL