FSB and NTV Pressure Mother of Man Accused in “Terrorist” Frame-Up

In the 1990s, people speculated what the call letters of Russia’s first independent TV station, NTV, actually stood for, but they had no doubt the TV station itself stood for groundbreaking, hardhitting, objective journalism. Since Putin crushed the network as one of his first acts as appointed savior of the Motherland, NTV has been synonymous with yellow journalism and filthy Nazi-like exposés of the regime’s opponents, leading an anonymous folk artist to suggest “NTV” stands for nasilie (“violence”), tupost’ (“stupidity”), and vran’yo (“lies”). Courtesy of YouTube

FSB Investigator and NTV Reporters Pressure Network Case Defendant’s Mother
OVD Info
April 12, 2018

A FSB investigator and NTV reporters have pressured Yelena, mother of Ilya Shakursky, one of the nine young men charged so far in the so-called Network case, as reported in a communique by the Parents Network, a committee of relatives of the young men, who have been accused of involvement in a “terrorist community,” allegedly codenamed The Network.

The FSB investigator summoned Shakursky’s mother and suggested she give an interview to NTV, promising her it would “count towards [her son’s sentence] at the trial.” However, he told her she must tell the reporters Shakursky was, in fact, a member of The Network and under no circumstances mention that her son and the other young male defendants had simply gotten together to play airsoft.

The NTV crew, accompanied by the FSB investigator, came to Yelena’s house and filmed the interview, finishing at eleven in the evening. Yelena told Lev Ponomaryov, leader of the Movement for Human Rights, what happened.

According to Yelena, the NTV reporters were curious not only about Shakursky’s involvement in the alleged organization but also in her own interactions with human rights defenders. They insisted she say on camera that human rights defenders had made promises to her and tried to persuade her to do something.

The Parents Network communique quoted Yelena’s statement.

“I am in such a state. I am constantly in tears. I start to swear, then I calm down. They asked leading questions. I couldn’t get my bearings and give them normal answers. I swore and I cried. I really don’t know what they filmed. They picked my weakest moments.”

Before leaving, the NTV film crew warned they would be telephoning Yelena to clarify certain details. The communique from the Parents Network claimed she planned to demand NTV not broadcast the interview.

Yelena also recounted that the investigator handling Shakursky’s case had been constantly trying to persuade her of her son’s guilt.

“He sits there and says, ‘Your son is guilty, your son is guilty.’ He says all the evidence is against him. I’m so utterly confused. I realize I can’t be friendly with him, because they tortured my son, but on the other hand, I’m afraid, and again I’m under their thumb. I’m afraid he will be sent down for nothing,” she said.

Yelena asked the Parents Network to go public with her story. She also asked that they quote her statement.

“If anything happens to me or Ilya, the people holding my son and pressuring both him and me will be the ones to blame,” she said.

[…]

Thanks to Yana Teplitskaya for the heads-up. Translated by the Russian Reader. You can read more about the Penza-Petersburg “terrorism” case and related developments as posted on this website. 

• “FSB and NTV Pressure Mother of Man Accused in ‘Terrorist’ Frame-Up,” 12 April 2018
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• “Wife of Tortured Antifascist Seeks Asylum in Finland,” 11 April 2018
• “The FSB’s Tall Tales,” 10 April 2018
• “Families of Penza-Petersburg Terrorists Form Committee,” 9 April 2018
• “Extremism Inside Out,” 30 March 2018
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• “Solidarity? (The Case of the Penza and Petersburg Antifascists),” 24 March 2018
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• “Ping, Ping, Ping: The Remand Extension Hearing of the Penza ‘Terrorists,’” 20 March 2018
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• “Solidarity with Persecuted Russian Antifascists and Anarchists in NYC and Minneapolis,” 7 February 2018
• “Ilya Kapustin: ‘They Said They Could Break My Legs and Dump Me in the Woods,’” 31 January 2018
• “The Penza ‘Terrorism’ Case,” 30 January 2018
• “Breaking Bad with the FSB,” 29 January 2018
• “How ‘Stability’ Has Really Been Achieved in Russia,” 29 January 2018