{"id":35897,"date":"2020-10-07T12:35:26","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T09:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/news\/11823\/"},"modified":"2025-03-20T01:03:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T22:03:49","slug":"11823","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/11823\/","title":{"rendered":"Karina Tsurkan, a\u00a0former senior manager at\u00a0Inter RAO, is\u00a0a\u00a0political prisoner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Karina Tsurkan is charged with spying for Moldova, but her guilt has not been proved and the investigation has been conducted with gross violations of the law<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Memorial Human Rights Centre, in\u00a0accordance with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/guidelines-on-definition-of-political-prisoner\/\">international guidelines<\/a>\u00a0defining the term \u2018political prisoner,\u2019 considers Karina Tsurkan a\u00a0political prisoner. She has been deprived of\u00a0her liberty in\u00a0violation of\u00a0her right to\u00a0a\u00a0fair trial guaranteed by\u00a0the Russian Constitution, the International Covenant on\u00a0Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of\u00a0Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In\u00a0her case it\u00a0seems no\u00a0offence has been committed and the evidence has been falsified. We\u00a0demand the immediate release of\u00a0Tsurkan.<\/strong><br>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Who is&nbsp;Karina Tsurkan and what is&nbsp;she accused of?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Karina Tsurkan, a&nbsp;former board member of&nbsp;the energy company Inter RAO, is&nbsp;charged with espionage (Article 276 of&nbsp;the Criminal Code, punishable by&nbsp;up&nbsp;to&nbsp;20 years\u2019 imprisonment). According to&nbsp;the investigators, in&nbsp;2015 Tsurkan allegedly passed secret information to&nbsp;the Information and Security Service of&nbsp;Moldova about the supply of&nbsp;electricity to&nbsp;the territory of&nbsp;Ukraine, including that part of&nbsp;the Donbass not controlled by&nbsp;the central government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On&nbsp;14 June 2018 Tsurkan was remanded in&nbsp;custody. On&nbsp;16 January 2020 the First Court of&nbsp;Appeal released her, imposing other pre-trial restrictions. However, already on&nbsp;7 February the Second Court of&nbsp;Cassation overturned this decision and remanded her in&nbsp;custody again. We&nbsp;believe this rush to&nbsp;cancel the relaxation in&nbsp;pre-trial restrictions is&nbsp;one of&nbsp;the most striking manifestations of&nbsp;the court\u2019s&nbsp;bias against Tsurkan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On&nbsp;21 September hearings in&nbsp;the case of&nbsp;Tsurkan began at&nbsp;Moscow City Court, and on&nbsp;29 September consideration on&nbsp;the merits began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tsurkan has denied the charges against her. She has a&nbsp;young son (a&nbsp;minor) and an&nbsp;elderly mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why does Memorial consider Tsurkan a&nbsp;political prisoner?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the closed nature of&nbsp;the investigation against Tsurkan, an&nbsp;analysis of&nbsp;the chronology and circumstances of&nbsp;the prosecution leads us&nbsp;to&nbsp;conclude that it&nbsp;is&nbsp;politically motivated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The initiation of\u00a0the case against Tsurkan, the decision to\u00a0remand her in\u00a0custody, and the specific nature of\u00a0her prosecution, have been in\u00a0line with a\u00a0general trend in\u00a0recent years which has seen an\u00a0increase in\u00a0prosecutions for espionage and treason since the beginning of\u00a0the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the intensification of\u00a0confrontation between Russia and Western countries since early 2014. To\u00a0maintain the image of\u00a0Russia as\u00a0a\u00a0besieged fortress surrounded by\u00a0enemies, more and more prosecutions of\u00a0\u2018spies\u2019 and \u2018traitors to\u00a0the Motherland\u2019 are required and the activities of\u00a0counter-intelligence agencies are often aimed at\u00a0fabricating such cases.<br>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Tsurkan case is\u00a0directly related to\u00a0the armed conflict in\u00a0eastern Ukraine and the informal but active support of\u00a0the Russian authorities for the self-proclaimed DPR\/LPR. The insistent desire to\u00a0expose a\u00a0\u2018spy\u2019 in\u00a0the Ministry of\u00a0Energy is\u00a0not a\u00a0matter of\u00a0ensuring Russia\u2019s\u00a0national security, but a\u00a0result of\u00a0the wish to\u00a0continue an\u00a0aggressive foreign policy without being exposed to\u00a0the risk of\u00a0sanctions.<a href=\"https:\/\/memohrc.org\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/curkan_0.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The classification of\u00a0prosecutions for espionage and treason and the closed nature of\u00a0court proceedings have led to\u00a0an\u00a0increase in\u00a0the number of\u00a0unlawful, biased convictions. The general atmosphere of\u00a0distrust in\u00a0such verdicts is\u00a0furthered by\u00a0the fact that in\u00a0such trials, defendants are denied the right to\u00a0a\u00a0full defence and a\u00a0fair trial and the public cannot be\u00a0convinced of\u00a0the validity of\u00a0the verdict or\u00a0the proof of\u00a0guilt. All of\u00a0these factors are characteristic of\u00a0the prosecution of\u00a0Karina Tsurkan.<br>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The formal ruling to\u00a0prosecute in\u00a0this case,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pavlov.svobodainfo\/posts\/1620324711461800\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">published<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0the lawyer Ivan Pavlov, does not specify how Tsurkan obtained access to\u00a0information constituting a\u00a0state secret, nor the manner in\u00a0which she passed secret information to\u00a0Moldovan intelligence agencies, nor the amount of\u00a0the alleged monetary reward, which, according to\u00a0the investigation, motivated her to\u00a0commit a\u00a0crime (even though the value of\u00a0the assets seized from Tsurkan exceeds 1bn roubles). The charges against Tsurkan do\u00a0not withstand any criticism and do\u00a0not meet the requirements of\u00a0the Russian Criminal Procedural Code.<br>\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lawyers for the defence note that the charge against Tsurkan is\u00a0based on\u00a0poor quality photocopies of\u00a0an\u00a0information sheet filled out by\u00a0an\u00a0agent, allegedly drawn up\u00a0about her by\u00a0Moldovan intelligence, and intelligence reports. At\u00a0the same time, it\u00a0is\u00a0important to\u00a0note that the material contained in\u00a0the information sheet does not correspond to\u00a0reality and the information sheet was written with numerous spelling and grammatical errors. The FSB refuses to\u00a0disclose the source of\u00a0these documents, citing the testimony of\u00a0a\u00a0single classified witness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Legal counsel is&nbsp;provided to&nbsp;Karina Tsurkan by&nbsp;the human rights organisation&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/team29.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Team 29<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More information about this case and the opinion of\u00a0Memorial Human Rights Centre is\u00a0available\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/figurant\/czurkan-karina-valerevna?\">on\u00a0our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Recognition of&nbsp;an&nbsp;individual as&nbsp;a&nbsp;political prisoner or&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;victim of&nbsp;politically motivated prosecution does not imply Memorial Human Rights Centre agrees with, or&nbsp;approves of, their views, statements, or&nbsp;actions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How you can help<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/donate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">can donate<\/a>\u00a0to support all political prisoners on our\u00a0website.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"featured_media":34616,"template":"","class_list":["post-35897","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","programs-podderzhka-politzekov-en","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>Karina Tsurkan, a\u00a0former senior manager at\u00a0Inter RAO, is\u00a0a\u00a0political prisoner - Political prisoners support. 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