Political Prisoner Shumkov Beaten in up Russia

Alexander Shumkov, an illegal prisoner in the Russian Federation territory, was beaten up by colony staff.

The aunt of the political prisoner announced this on her Facebook page.

“It is unknown at this time what caused the incident. However, all the actions of the Russian Federation militiamen and special services, in my opinion, are aimed at on provocations to open one more criminal case against Sasha,” Lyudmila Shumkova writes.

According to the woman, the political prisoner was told many times that he would not return to Ukraine alive and that Russian special services put pressure on those Russians who tried to support him with letters.

Currently, the woman is appealing to the Presidential Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Consular Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to make efforts to address Oleksandr Shumkov’s fate.

To recap, at the beginning of December 2018 the Bryansk region court found the citizen of Ukraine, a military of the Ukrainian army, Shumkov guilty of participation in an extremist organisation. The investigation called him the former bodyguard of the “Right Sector” leader Dmitry Yarosh.

In addition, Shumkov was accused of participating in the Crimea civil blockade in September 2015 and in “a series of actions aimed at intimidating the Kherson region residents who protested against the Crimea blockade and called for the resumption of economic and political relations with Russia.” The court sentenced Shumkov to four years of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony. On 16 October 2019, Shumkov launched a hunger strike in connection with the systematic violation of his rights by the staff of the Tver colony and psychological pressure on him.

Natalia Tolub