Defense appeals Valeria Zotova’s verdict
On June 28, the 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced nineteen-year-old Valeria Zotova to six years in prison in a criminal case fabricated by the FSB.
The court has not yet provided a copy of the verdict to either Valeria or her lawyer. Therefore, the lawyer could not prepare a full-fledged appeal. But he did file a brief complaint to meet the deadline: an appeal must be filed within fifteen days of the date of sentencing.
The appeals process is a very important component of legal proceedings. Until the appeals stage has been completed and the sentence comes into force, there is hope that the verdict will be reversed or changed and Valeria will not be sent to a penal colony at this time.
You can always support Valeria by writing her a letter or sending a parcel.
Address for letters and parcels:
Zotova Valeria Igorevna (born 2003) 10 ul. Portovaya nab., SIZO-1 Yaroslavl 150001 Russian Federation
Solidarity Zone is supporting Valeria Zotova.
#politicalprisoners#crackdown#solidarity#fsb#fsblawlessness#provocation#yaroslavl#no war#wewriteletters
Source: Solidarity Zone (Facebook), 16 July 2023. Translated by the Russian Reader. People living outside of Russia will find it difficult or impossible to send parcels to Russian prisons or to use the FSIN-Pismo and Zonatelecom services to contact Russian political prisoners. In many cases, however, you can send letters (which must be written in Russian or translated into Russian) via the free, volunteer-run service RosUznik. As of this writing, Ms. Zotova has not appeared on their list of supported addressees. You can also ask me (avvakum@pm.me) for assistance and advice in sending letters to her and other Russian political prisoners.
Valeria Zotova, 19, from Russia’s Yaroslavl has been sentenced to six years behind bars for plotting to set a military aid collection point on fire, Solidarity Zone reports.
The woman was found guilty of attempted “terrorist attack”. The state prosecution wanted eight years in prison for Zotova.
“However, the case materials, correspondence received by the lawyer and Valeria’s own words indicate that the case was a provocation staged by the FSB, whose agents actively persuaded the woman to set the aid collection point for the Russian military ablaze. Zotova may have attracted the attention of the special services due to her anti-war stance,” human rights activists said.
A criminal case against Zotova was opened in February. The woman went for a walk with her friends in mid-February. Later that night, law enforcers showed up at her place for a search without any explanation. During the search, the detainee’s mother was threatened with promises to make her a suspect in her daughter’s case for “participating in anti-war rallies”. She denies these accusations: despite her anti-war views, she did not participate in rallies against the Ukraine war. The news emerged later that Valeria was held in a detention centre in Yaroslavl.
In April, Russian authorities placed Valeria’s mother Svetlana Zotova on the extremist list. The woman had previously been charged with “calls” to commit terrorist and extremist actions. The charges stemmed from comments allegedly posted by Svetlana Zotova on Telegram channels. The woman was prohibited from leaving the country. She could face up to ten years in prison on the charges.
One thought on “Valeria Zotova: Framed”