During his trial, Anatoly Berezikov repeatedly said that he was afraid of “disappearing.” Two weeks later, on June 14, he was found dead in his cell in southwest Russia.
Berezikov is the first known critic of the Ukraine conflict to have died in custody since the Kremlin launched large-scale hostilities in February last year.
The circumstances of his death are unclear, but the cause given by authorities is suicide.
Photo: AFP
His friends and allies dismiss that account, saying they believe Berezikov was tortured in detention, possibly leading to his death.
“People can be repressed without trial or investigation. They can kidnap you, imprison you, search you, intimidate you, torture you and kill you,” said Tatiana Sporycheva, a rights advocate who supported Berezikov.
In Rostov in southern Russia, Berezikov had developed a reputation as a cheerful nonconformist, a lover of experimental music and staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He was one among thousands of people in Russia to have spoken out against the conflict and subsequently been threatened, fined or jailed.
Born in 1983 in the Siberian city of Biysk, Berezikov moved to Rostov in the 2010s, where he was active in the cultural underground scene.
“He worked as a tattooist and body-piercer. He made tattooing machines and sold them,” a friend told reporters on the condition of anonymity.
Berezikov’s friends and allies have also been pursued by security services.
With his talent for tinkering, Berezikov also built synthesizers for his experiments in “noise music.”
“He was a God-given technician,” said fellow musician Valentin Sokhorev, 52.
Berezikov looked everywhere for spare parts. In a 2019 photograph, he can been seen at a snow-covered flea market wearing just shorts, his chest bare. The skimpy combo was Berezikov’s usual uniform.
In the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, the 40-year-old with a beard and long blond hair rode around the city shirtless on his bike.
Berezikov was also an advocate for leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption movement.
By default, that made him an opponent of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine.
He claimed to have put up posters from an Ukrainian campaign that offers Russian soldiers guidance on how to surrender.
Berezikov was arrested in May by police and given three short consecutive jail terms for alleged misdemeanors, mirroring a trend deployed against Kremlin critics before serious charges are brought.
In custody, Berezikov was beaten and tortured with electric shocks, his lawyers said.
Sporycheva saw him in court on May 31 and recorded a video clip of Berezikov looking exhausted.
“He had lost a lot of weight. He kept saying: ‘They want to take me away. I will disappear and no one will find me,’” she said.
Berezikov died on June 14 having hung himself in his cell, officials said.
No expert medical assessment has been made public.
Authorities have opened a probe into potential abuses that could have led to the alleged suicide.
Sokhorev, who saw himself nearly as an older brother to Berezikov, said he tried for a long time to convince the tattooist to swear off activism.
“I said to him: ‘My friend, you shouldn’t do that. If you wave your ass in front of a hornet’s nest, expect them to sting you very hard. So don’t do it,’ but he didn’t see that, he didn’t see the danger,” Sokhorev said.
“He was brave, but mad,” the musician added.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
RSS