Azat Miftakhov harassed by FSB agents in the penal colony

On August 29, FBS agents visited Azat Miftakhov in the Omutninsk prison colony and attempted to interrogate him in relation to the new “incitement to terrorism” charge. Azat refused to be interrogated without his lawyer present. According to Azat’s lawyer, Svetlana Sidorkina, this new criminal charge against Azat is based on some comment that he supposedly made to some other prisoners in the colony in May of this year while watching a TV program. It is not yet known what, according to the FSB, Azat is supposed to have said or what the TV program was about.

Azat is currently scheduled to be released on parole on September 4 after serving a blatantly unjust politically motivated sentence for “hooliganism” in the infamous “broken window” case. He has been behind bars since February 2019. The new “incitement to terrorism” charge against Azat is a brazen and outrageous fabrication by the FSB that appears to be aimed at preventing his release on September 4. 

Azat needs our support now more than ever. The manifest injustice the Russian authorities are perpetrating against a talented young mathematician cannot be allowed to stand. Azat must be freed.

Azat’s supporters are organizing an International Day for Liberation of Azat Miftakhov on Saturday, September 2. The international mathematical and scientific community, and all other people of good will aware of this case need to stand strong in support of Azat in this crucial moment.

The Azat Miftakhov Committee

PS. Updated list of rallies around the world in support of Azat Miftakhov on Saturday, September 2, 2023:

• Paris: Saturday, September 2 at 14:00 in front of the Russian Embassy in Paris, square Robert Schuman, 41 avenue du Maréchal Fayolle, 75016 Paris.
• Berlin: Saturday, September 2 at 12 p.m., Unter den Linden 63-65, in front of Russian Embassy (pay attention to the change of time and location)
• Vilnius: Saturday, September 2 at 2 p.m., Russian Embassy, Ukrainos Didvyrių g. 2.
• Erevan: Saturday, September 2 at 6 p.m. (Armenian time zone), Place de Russie, Miasnikiane monument.