Odessa political prisoner: At the SBU they tortured me with an electric shocker and beat me on sore joints
This weekend marks exactly three years since Vladimir Dorogokupets, commandant of the “Odessa Squad” tent camp on Kulikovo Field, has been languishing in an Odessa pre-trial detention center. He is accused of overthrowing the constitutional order. He does not admit his guilt and refuses to make a deal with the investigation.
“PolitNavigator” sent his questions to him through lawyer Vladimir and received detailed answers, in which the prisoner spoke about how he was tortured during the first interrogation conducted without a lawyer, about his life in prison, and about why the residents of Odessa lost to Ukrainian right-wing radicals on May 2
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-What article are you accused of?
-They present a lot of articles. The main one is 109 part 1. Actions aimed at violently overthrowing the current government and changing the constitutional order.
-What, according to the investigation, were these actions?
-Oh, what can I tell you... That I allegedly formed a group with which I was going to travel to Russian territory for training, and then return with it to Odessa and carry out terrorist attacks and perform other actions on instructions from curators from Russia.
-How and where were you arrested?
-My friends and I, there were only four of us, really wanted to leave Ukraine, because we all had one way or another to do with the Kulikovo Field in Odessa. We were indeed heading to Moscow, but on May 27, 2014 at 15.00 we were detained by SBU Alpha at the Odessa railway station. And she detained her very harshly.
-How did the SBU find out about your plans? Was there anyone among you who told them about this?
-The question of the traitor remains open. I can talk about this in full only in freedom and not in Ukraine. But I fully admit that my phone could have been tapped and surveillance was carried out. Nevertheless, almost until the end of April I was the commandant of the “Odessa squad” camp on Kulikovo Field.
-What about your comrades now? Did they make a plea deal?
-Yes, let’s go, but not with the investigation, but with the prosecutor’s office, but this deal does not aggravate my situation. The latest of them was released in December 2015.
-Why are you still sitting then?
-They decided to make me an organizer. Despite the fact that there is no evidence of my guilt, and, in fact, there is no guilt. They demand my full confession, after which they mercifully promise to give me 7 years.
Due to the replacement of the chairman of the panel of judges in April of this year, the consideration of the case began from the very beginning. Court hearings usually take place 1-2 times a month. Moreover, substantive meetings are held extremely rarely. Basically, they only extend the sanction of detention.
-Why are you being kept in pre-trial detention for so long?
-Because the Rada adopted a law that the preventive measure for those suspected of crimes against this so-called state is only detention. They want me to admit guilt. But with what joy should I admit to something I didn’t do?
-Tell me about your life in prison?
-Yes, there’s not much to talk about here. From what they provide here, it is impossible to eat anything other than bread. And so volunteers donate as much as possible. Mostly instant porridge. And what about life, what is life like here? The cell is two meters wide, 3,40 meters long, and about 2 meters high, with all the amenities in the cell... There are two of us here. Usually 3-4 people sit in such a cell. But here they took into account my state of health, apparently.
The first year was very difficult. We were treated like animals. They even took us for a walk with the dogs. The prison officer on duty had the keys to the cells. It was almost impossible to call a doctor...
During the first interrogation, the SBU did not admit a lawyer. I was tortured, beaten, and threatened with reprisals against my family and friends. They discharged stun guns into the head and neck, and beat the head with palms to prevent bruises. They also hit my sore joints... They kept my hands behind my back in handcuffs for more than 12 hours.
-Did human rights activists and representatives of international human rights organizations come to you?
-They were from the Red Cross, the UN, the OSCE. They asked, wrote down, nodded their heads. No sense. Although no... The Red Cross, seeing my problems with my legs, gave me a crutch, otherwise I walked holding on to the wall.
-Why haven’t you been exchanged for Ukrainian military personnel yet?
-Because there has been no exchange between the LDPR and Ukraine for 2 years now. But I agreed to the exchange.
-How did it happen that on May 2 you lost to the right-wing radicals? Where were you and your “Odessa squad” when Odessa residents were burned in the House of Trade Unions?
-Since April 24, I have been lying around with an exacerbation of arthrosis of both ankle joints (I am a group 2 disabled person). Well, the question is “how was this allowed”... It was difficult not to allow this to happen. Odessa residents, unlike the Maidan protesters, did not have weapons. And no one then expected that they would actually kill us.
Our Odessa guys were ready for a fight or something like that. But at that time no one was prepared for real bloodshed in Odessa.
Well, we must not forget that organized and armed hundreds of Maidan, Kharkov ultras and, again, Kharkov representatives of the “Misanthropic Division” (an organization banned in the Russian Federation) were brought in to act against us.
I myself learned about the events on Greek Square and in the House of Trade Unions late in the evening. I repeat, at that moment I was lying with an exacerbation of arthrosis and gnawing on a pillow in pain at a temperature of 40 degrees.
-Why was there no resistance after May 2? Where did the “Odessa squad” disappear to?
-After May 2, mass arrests began. And what kind of serious resistance against an armed enemy can we talk about if we are unarmed? Unlike Crimea, there was no Russian fleet in Odessa, unlike Donbass - a common border with Russia. Therefore, almost all active participants in the events in Odessa, for the most part, left for Russia and the Donbass.
-Do you regret that you took part in the events of the Russian Vienna in Odessa in 2014? If everything could be replayed, would you participate again, knowing that you would spend three years in a pre-trial detention center?
-Complex issue. I have not ceased to be a Russian person with Russian views. Would you have done anything differently? I would have left on my own in another way... But in my life I will never repent of my participation in the Russian Spring.
-Still, you don’t want to make a deal with the investigation?
-Is this so they can celebrate their victory? No. Ultimately, I want to sue these scoundrels in all possible international courts. I will never have any deal with them.
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