St. Petersburg human rights commissioner tells jailed anti-war activist that her case doesn’t infringe on free speech
St. Petersburg Human Rights Commissioner Svetlana Agapitova is defending herself against allegations that she told incarcerated activist Alexandra Skochilenko that Skochilenko has no right to a medically necessary special diet in jail and that she “committed a serious crime against the state” by posting anti-war messages in a local grocery store. Speaking through her lawyer this week, Skochilenko accused Agapitova of telling her in a recent meeting that diet accommodations are possible “in a children’s summer camp” but not in pretrial detention. Skochilenko, who faces 10 years in prison for spreading “deliberately false information about the use of the Russian Armed Forces,” says Agapitova also told her, “This has nothing to do with your right to free speech.”
Alexandra Skochilenko suffers from celiac disease — an autoimmune disorder where eating gluten destroys the small intestine. In jail, she’s been unable to maintain her gluten-free diet.
The St. Petersburg human rights commissioner later told the news outlet Rotonda Media that Skochilenko misinterpreted her remarks, though Agapitova disputed only some of the phrases attributed to her (denying that she’d ever accuse anyone of guilt before a trial’s verdict, for example) and she confirmed that she believes Skochilenko is already getting the diet she needs and that her case is not an infringement on her right to free speech. “She is charged under a felony statute. Part three of the Constitution’s Article 55 allows restrictions though federal laws on citizens’ rights and freedom,” Agapitova told journalists.
