Activist cuts open veins to protest against Russian prison abuse

Olga Shalina, an activist from the “Other Russia” movement, went the extra mile in a protest on October 25 at a “security provision” convention in Moscow, scaling a police van prototype and scattering leaflets, before cutting open the veins in her arms.

Eyewitnesses say Shalina’s demonstration lasted at least 10 minutes, and then guards detained her and handed her over to paramedics. The protest, which took place at the “Interpolitex” International Homeland Security Exhibition, was reportedly against Russia’s “repressive penitentiary system.”

Shalina’s leaflets apparently highlighted that there have been 168 reported cases of prisoner abuse in Russia since a shocking video leaked that showed the torture of inmate Evgeny Makarov in Yaroslavl.