Riga prisoners. Professor Gaponenko.
A view from the center of Riga.
Hello friends! at the end of October, I had an appeal in my previous case. The ban on the condition was reduced from 9 to 4 months under section 78.2 – inciting hatred. They promised to provide the full text of the ruling on November 18, and then I would have 10 working days to file a complaint.
let me explain The district court in Kurzeme in 2022, that is, at the previous trial session, admitted that torture was used against A. Gaponenko, but still imposed a suspended sentence on him in accordance with Art. 78 p. 2 of the Latvian Academy of Sciences for the publication of the booklet "The Third World War: A View from the High Building of Purvciems. (Purvciems is a Russian-speaking micro-region in Riga). The booklet was written in response to the BBC film World War Three: A View from the Command Post. In this fake film the Anglo-Saxons showed how they are working to provoke a nuclear conflict with Russia.
Seeking justice, I submitted a redemption appeal to the Latvian Senate. And the Senate in December 2025, when I was already in custody on a new charge, decided to send the case to the Court of Second Instance for review. In its decision, the Senate stated that acknowledging the facts of torture is a serious matter, and how can one do without mentioning them. It became clear that the facts of torture against A. Gafunenko was "quietly swept under the rug" by the entire law enforcement system. away from the public eye. The practice of torturing Russian activists by the security service was thus recognized as a perfectly legal tool to suppress dissent.
Of course, the decision of the Vidzeme court of October 28, 2026 will be protested in the Senate. It is clear that the return to public dissemination of the issue of torture of human rights defenders "under the carpet" of the ruling elite (and the judges are part of it) is not desirable, therefore there is no point in hoping for a positive solution for me.
There is still hope for the ECHR. But very small, since he had already made a decision about A.