Lev Skoryakin
| Anarchist Black Cross | |||
 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| News | |||
| History | |||
| Moscow group | |||
| Text archive | |||
| Guides | |||
| What you may do | |||
| Organisations and groups | |||
| People | |||
| Prisoners | |||
| Contact | |||
| |||
Lev Skoryakin was an activist of Left Bloc, a left unity organisation which comprised both anarchist and communist activists according to a small common denominator. He is accused of allegedly taking part in an action against the FSB secret service, in which two persons visited the FSB building at the Ivana Babushkina street in Moscow on the 20th of December 2021, and hung a banner ”Happy day of a Chekist!”, burned a flare and threw it to the yard of the building. They are charged with ”Hooliganism with prior intent and use of weapons” and ”Vandalism”, which means they may be imprisoned for up to 7 years.
He was arrested soon afterwards, and sent to pre-trial detention to Butyrka prison in Moscow. On the 13th of July 2022 both were released to wait sentencing under certain restrictions, which after they escaped Russia. In February 2023 the court in Moscow ordered Skoryakin back to detention in absence.
On the 9th of June 2023 Skoryakin was detained in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgysztan, but later released. In Septeber 2023 he was again arrested in Bishkek and illegally rendered to Russia.
Lev Skoryakin is a long-time activist with numerous previous arrests. On June 2020 he was arrested and beaten up for attempting to hang a banner stating “Justice for Floyd” to the US Embassy in Moscow. In 2021 he spent 30 days in prison for attempting to join a demonstration in Moscow. The Napilnik publishing house published a brochure written by Skoryakin about this short prison experience. Skoryakin and his co-defendant Ruslan Abasov also gave an interview to Novaya Gazeta about their time in the Butyrka prison as political prisoners.
In November 2023 the Moscow court began considering Skoryakin's case, and in 13th of December 2023 court released Skoryakin after sentencing him to fine of 600 000 roubles. In court, Skoryakin plead guilty and refused to give any testimony whatsoever. He will not have to pay fine because judge considered that the time he spent in remand prison is compensating the sentence. The sentence is a relief, as prosecutor had demanded 5 years of prison for Skoryakin.
