{"id":33696,"date":"2024-11-20T16:33:11","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T13:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-nikolaya-czymbalyuka\/"},"modified":"2025-03-20T00:42:48","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T21:42:48","slug":"my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-nikolaya-czymbalyuka","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-nikolaya-czymbalyuka\/","title":{"rendered":"Nikolai Tsymbalyuk is a political prisoner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>A resident of Altai Krai was convicted on a charge of terrorism and sentenced to six years in a penal colony for reposting texts by Arkady Babchenko on Telegram<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The \u2018Political Prisoners. Memorial\u2019 human rights project, in accordance with <a href=\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/guidelines-on-definition-of-political-prisoner\/\">international standards<\/a>, considers Nikolai Tsymbalyuk a political prisoner. Tsymbalyuk was convicted on charges of making calls to engage in terrorism and actions against the security of Russia. He had reposted on Telegram posts by the journalist Arkady Babchenko about fundraising for those defending Ukraine from Russian aggression. Tsymbalyuk&#8217;s prosecution and conviction violated his right to freedom of speech and fair trial. We demand that Tsymbalyuk be immediately released, his conviction quashed, and all criminal charges against him dropped.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" src=\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/tsymbalyuk-eng-1.png\" alt=\"Tsymbalyuk\" class=\"wp-image-33698\" srcset=\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/tsymbalyuk-eng-1.png 1200w, https:\/\/memopzk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/tsymbalyuk-eng-1-768x403.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What were the charges against Nikolai Tsymbalyuk?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the spring of 2022, Nikolai Tsymbalyuk, a resident of the village of Firsovo in Altai Krai, created a Telegram channel entitled, \u2018Carthage Must Be Destroyed!\u2019 He then posted on the channel materials critical of the Russian authorities, including anti-war materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In February 2024, a criminal case was initiated against Tsymbalyuk. He was charged with reposting three texts by the journalist Arkady Babchenko in October and December 2022. In two of them, Babchenko had called for donations to be made in support of the Ukrainian armed forces. The investigative authorities considered these two posts calls to engage in treason, or \u2018activities against the security of the Russian Federation\u2019 (Article 280.4, Part 2, of the Russian Criminal Code). In the third post, Babchenko had listed military units that had received items purchased with the donated funds, including the Noman \u00c7elebicihan Battalion, which has been designated a terrorist organisation by Russia. The investigative authorities considered this post to constitute a public call to engage in terrorism (Article 205.2, Part 2, of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 18 February 2024, Tsymbalyuk was remanded in custody. On 9 September 2024, he was sentenced to six years in a general-regime penal colony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why do we consider Tsymbalyuk a political prisoner?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Nikolai Tsymbalyuk reposted texts calling for donations to the Ukrainian armed forces for the purchase of medical supplies, he intended no harm to the security of Russia, but to assist Ukraine, which had become a victim of Russian aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our project has repeatedly stated that there is no evidence of terrorist activity by the Noman \u00c7elebicihan Battalion. Therefore, we believe that the Russian Supreme Court&#8217;s designation of this body as a terrorist organisation was unfounded and unlawful. This ruling paved the way for repression against Crimean Tatars who oppose the Russian occupying authorities; it can also be used against other opponents of the policies of Russia\u2019s political leadership. Moreover, Russia considers a group that operated along the administrative border with Crimea in 2015-2016 to be a terrorist organisation, but the post in question about donations refers to a different unit \u2014 an assault battalion of the Ukrainian armed forces with the same name, which was formed later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time the criminal case was initiated against Nikolai Tsymbalyuk, his Telegram channel had only ten subscribers, which means his posts posed no real danger to society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A more detailed description of the case of Nikolai Tsymbalyuk and the position of the human rights project is available on our<a href=\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/figurant\/czymbalyuk-nikolaj-vladimirovich\"> website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Recognition of an individual as a political prisoner does not imply the \u2018Political Prisoners. Memorial\u2019 human rights project agrees with, or approves, their views, statements, or actions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How can you help?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can write to Nikolai Tsymbalyuk at the following address:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Russian:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>656021, \u0410\u043b\u0442\u0430\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u043a\u0440\u0430\u0439, \u0411\u0430\u0440\u043d\u0430\u0443\u043b, \u041a\u0430\u043d\u0430\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u043f\u0440-\u0434, 81, \u0424\u041a\u0423 \u0421\u0418\u0417\u041e-1 \u0423\u0424\u0421\u0418\u041d \u043f\u043e \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0438 \u043f\u043e \u0410\u043b\u0442\u0430\u0439\u0441\u043a\u043e\u043c\u0443 \u043a\u0440\u0430\u044e, \u0426\u044b\u043c\u0431\u0430\u043b\u044e\u043a\u0443 \u041d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0430\u044e \u0412\u043b\u0430\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0447\u0443 1976 \u0433. \u0440.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In English:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nikolai Vladimirovich Tsymbalyuk (born 1976), Remand Prison No. 1, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Altai Krai, 81 Kanatny Proezd, Barnaul, Altai Krai, 656021, Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also send an email via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.zonatelecom.ru\/services\/letter\/payments-letter\"> ZT<\/a> (for payment with Russian cards),<a href=\"https:\/\/letters-now.org\/\"> OVD-Info<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/memorial-france.org\/politzeki\/\"> Memorial-France<\/a> (free of charge).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Please note that letters in languages other than Russian are highly unlikely to reach the recipient.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You <a href=\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/donate\/\">can donate<\/a> to help all political prisoners in Russia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23954,"template":"","class_list":["post-33696","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","regions-altai-krai","news-type-nashi-novosti-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Nikolai Tsymbalyuk is a political prisoner - Political prisoners support. 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