Excuse me.
It's so strange, so awful.
I sympathize.
What's happening is very creepy.
I've seen photos.
I just want to say...
That we are with you.
Every prisoner in a
pre-trial detention center
has the right to two
social visits per month.
Sasha hasn't been convicted,
just arrested.
In a pre-trial detention center,
she has the right
to two visits...
...but only if the prosecutor
gives permission.
What's going on here?
Is this against the w*r or what?
This girl was the first in
St. Petersburg to speak
out against the w*r.
She put "price tags"
on things and was
arrested. Today there's
an appeal hearing.
Is this a support group?
Yes, TV, friends, activists,
bailiffs, you name it...
The young man can come in.
This one. And you.
When the w*r broke out...
...St. Petersburg artist
Sasha Skochilenko
tried to stop it as
best she could.
On April 11, 2022,
Sasha was arrested.
By locking up Sasha,
the government locked
up everyone who
disagreed with them.
This is how I ended
up in this courtroom
and started making this film...
...together with Sasha's partner
Sonya,
and their best friend Lyosha.
Today is the first hearing:
an appeal against her arrest.
Sasha is taking
part via a video link.
We want Sasha to see us.
Normally,
the TV screens are turned around
so the public can
see the defendant.
There is a specialist for this,
but I have no contact with him.
We're asking you, on behalf
of everyone who's come here:
Please let Sasha see us,
see our support.
How can you not have everything
prepared if the
hearing is today?
We want to express
our support and
solidarity. This is
very important for her.
We want her to see us. This
is the right of every person.
The judicial part of the appeal
is now in session.
The accused,
Sasha Skochilenko, is
accused of committing a crime...
...under article
207.3 of the Criminal
Code of the
Russian Federation...
...and is in custody.
The prosecuting authorities
accuse Sasha Skochilenko...
...of deliberately and publicly
disseminating
false information...
...about the armed
forces of the Russian
Federation, and
expressing hostility to them.
Sasha Skochilenko,
between 9:25 pm and 9:46 pm...
...on the floor of
the grocery store,
replaced at least
five price tags....
...with imitation price tags
containing the following texts:
"My great-grandfather
did not take
part in the Second World w*r...
...for Russia to
become a fascist
state and attack Ukraine."
"The Russian army bombed
an art school in Mariupol.
About 400 people were
hiding in it from the shelling."
"Russian conscripts
are sent to Ukraine.
The price of this w*r is
the lives of our children."
"In the first three days of the
w*r,
4,300 Russian soldiers died."
"Putin has been lying to us
from TV screens for 20 years."
"The result of these
lies is our willingness
to justify w*r and
senseless deaths."
These scraps of
paper were visible
to an unknown number of people.
Would you like to speak, Sasha?
I believe that
those who are afraid
are running away, but I am not.
Of course, I would prefer any
other way of life
to imprisonment.
If a respected court
ultimately decides...
...that my deeds
merit the ultimate
penalty of ten
years in prison...
...I will accept that as well.
Show me everything you brought.
This is
ultra-pasteurized yoghurt
which can be stored
without cooling.
Can't you take them to her
without documents?
No. Everything must be checked.
And these products
are perishables.
No, they can be stored
without cooling for six months.
Once opened, they can be stored
for 24 hours maximum.
These are special
gluten-free foods.
Not acceptable.
How did he not sign? He looked
me in the eye and promised me.
He may have written something,
but the boss did not sign it.
Sasha also asked me
to bring her a bucket.
That won't fit
through the window.
- Maybe you can take it somehow?
- Too big for the window.
She begged me for something
to wash her clothes in.
You'll have to bring a bucket
that fits through this window.
- It doesn't fit.
- You need a smaller one.
Try it,
maybe it will shrink somehow.
Put that camera away!
It's very sad in there.
And seeing Sasha
is very painful.
There are 18 people in the cell.
She's not allowed to sit on the
bed without
someone's permission.
And because her bed is a
bunk bed, there's a rule...
...that she cannot use it
during the day. Only at night.
She says it's quite cold because
the window is always open.
Otherwise,
all the people there are afraid
it will smell of food,
and toilet...
...because the toilet for
18 people is inside the cell.
The only things that help her
are paper, pen and pencils.
But colored pencils will be
taken away from her immediately.
She's only allowed
a black gel pen.
These are such strange rules.
I can't imagine...
...how it is possible,
after this,
to stay the same
as you were before.
It's hard even for
me. I lose my appetite
every time I visit
my clients in there.
It's like I feel ashamed.
The w*r immediately divided
Russian society
into two realities.
The opposition
talked about prisons,
struggle, injustice,
repression...
...while the propaganda
on official television
sounded even louder
and more aggressive.
"The completion
of the combat work
to liberate Mariupol
is a success!"
"This truly is a
liberation operation!"
"The special operation
can only be considered over...
...when no territory anywhere is
called 'independent Ukraine'."
For some reason, they want to
make a scapegoat out of Sasha.
I hoped they
wouldn't start looking
for internal enemies
until much later.
All the money we earn will go to
pay for parcels, and a lawyer.
We will try to help somehow.
A public petition
demanding a change
in the preventive
measure for Sasha...
...was signed by more
than 100,000 people.
Friends started a
public fundraiser
to support and protect Sasha.
- Citizens, please leave the hall.
- Let me take a picture of you.
Didn't I warn you?
No need to clap, citizens.
Otherwise, a protocol will be
issued and
immediately acted upon.
No need to clap!
Your Honor...
Question number one. I am
accused of committing a crime...
...under article 207.3
of the Criminal Code ...
...of knowingly
disseminating false
information regarding
the armed forces...
...and the exercise
of power by the
authorities of the
Russian Federation...
...based on political
hatred and enmity.
In this regard,
I ask you to clarify what
specifically the
prosecution is about.
What exactly
expressed my "hatred"
for political persons
or communities?
What exactly are the
state's claims against me?
The information
about the presence
of Russian
conscripts in Ukraine...
...has now been confirmed
by President Putin.
Yet I am still being prosecuted
for announcing this fact.
What exactly, in the opinion of
the prosecuting authorities...
...is considered
to be my criminal
act in relation
to public safety?
What exactly do I need
to defend myself against?
Against the claim that Putin has
been lying to us
on TV for 20 years?
Or against the fact that I said
that the effect of this lie...
...is our willingness to justify
w*r and senseless deaths?
Time to leave, citizens.
- What? No statement?
- The hearing is closed.
We should be allowed to
hear the decision of the judges.
What? Even that is not allowed?
Oh, Lord...
Let's take that again. Sasha
needs a special diet, right?
Take it from there?
Sasha was promised
a gluten-free diet...
...but her lawyer
tells us she only
gets gluten-free
food occasionally.
Without the right
food she suffers
severe abdominal
pain and nausea.
Coeliac disease
is serious. It can
lead to osteoporosis,
anemia, cancer.
The request to change detention
to house arrest is not granted.
The court decides to
extend the detention
of the accused
Sasha Skochilenko...
...date of birth 09.13.1990, for
two months, until July 1, 2022.
I love you!
Shame on you!
left-right! left-right!
we are marching soldiers!
the court has decided
to recognize the punishment
in the form of imprisonment
for a period of six years
and eight months
For this performance
we won two Golden Mask awards.
And with Xenia we've decided
to give one Mask...
...to our wonderful
St. Petersburg
artist Sasha Skochilenko!
Thank you, Xenia.
I hope this will help you.
Thank you on behalf of Sasha.
"Air-launched
high-precision missiles...
...k*lled more than 170
Ukrainian nationalists."
"The military is
making every effort not
just to complete the operation,
but to win."
May.
Sasha faces ten
years in prison for
her words about
the Russian army.
As an artist, she starts
to depict her time in prison:
Walking the concrete courtyard.
The utter loneliness.
Hello, I'm here with regard to
Sasha Skochilenko.
Our lawyer requested
that a psychotherapist
be made available to Sasha...
...but we haven't
received an answer yet.
I saw no such request.
You didn't even see it,
did you?
Why did you betray
Sasha to the cops?
I'll tell you what happened.
She was your friend. She came to
support you. How
could you trap her?
I didn't open the door,
they forced it.
They got in.
It was such a stupid situation.
Telegram was open on the laptop.
Sasha called me,
but they wouldn't let me answer.
The prosecutor
started chatting to
Sasha through my
Telegram account.
They thought I was
an accomplice...
...that those price tags
had been printed at my place.
They couldn't have proved that
because it wasn't true.
You think they need
proof? I don't think
they're really
interested in the truth.
They didn't see me
as an accomplice,
even though we live together.
Or Lyosha,
and he's Sasha's best friend.
So you chose to save yourself
at Sasha's expense.
I decided to save myself,
but I didn't
see how I could do
anything for Sasha.
You could have warned her
that they were looking for her.
Just one message...
She was on her way to help you.
Now you are free
while Sasha will
probably suffer in
prison for ten years.
I don't know if I will ever see
her again. She
may die in prison.
Yes...
The birds stopped singing
the light of the stars
touched the roofs
in your hour of pain and
sadness you hear my voice
night gives way
to a clear morning
I know happiness awaits us
night and misery will pass
and the sun will rise
the sun will rise...
Put the camera away!
June.
The international human rights
organization Amnesty
International...
...recognized Sasha
as a Prisoner of Conscience...
...and demanded her immediate
and unconditional release.
Sasha is having trouble
accessing
gluten-free food again.
Her cellmates wouldn't let her
open the fridge by herself.
The prosecutor sent Sasha
for psychiatric evaluation.
Is Sasha already on the screen?
Hi, Sasha.
Hello, dear.
Can you hear us?
The hearing will
be closed. We will
only be called
upon as witnesses.
- I'm so glad to see you!
- And we are glad to see you.
The judge has let
us film here and
talk to you before the hearing.
Wow.
- Sonya, I'm so glad you came.
- I always come.
How are you?
I'm very glad to see you, I miss
you very much,
but I try to hold on.
See? So many people have come
to take pictures of you!
This dress really suits you.
Thank you.
Thank you for sending doctors
to see me, I felt so cared for.
Announcing the judicial
part of the decision.
If the prisoner were released...
...she could warn others
who took part in the crime.
The rest of the court's decision
is unchanged.
When will she finally be
released? Today or tomorrow?
Based on the foregoing,
the court has decided...
...to refuse the
measure of restraint
in the form of house arrest.
The prosecutor's petition
is therefore granted...
...until October 1, 2022.
December. Yuri
Novolodsky is the third
lawyer who agreed to
take on Sasha's case.
He's defended social justice
in court for over 40 years.
Now it looks like something on a
scaffold: "Truth
supports the world."
"He fought for the truth."
I've fought for
the truth all my life.
Hello, Sasha. Sonya
doesn't feel very well today.
She increased her medication
again, so she's not here.
But she says hello to you
and everything.
And how is she now?
Don't worry,
she's just sleeping.
Citizens, leave.
This is a closed hearing.
Dear bailiffs,
let's follow the law.
Before the court is officially
in session, nobody will leave.
Stand up.
Let the session start.
- Citizen, leave.
- Comrade lieutenant, stop.
Karpushenko A. A.,
don't touch me.
- Go and stand behind the bar.
- Why?
Just do what he says.
As the new year drew near,
Sasha received some good news:
The prison agreed
to let her use colored pencils.
Thank you!
1: place the dispenser
on a flat surface.
2: place the roll of
tape on the spool
so that the roll
unwinds clockwise...
Stop it, please.
Look, we're busy.
We're shaking the regime here.
- By doing what?
- Packing books.
Show your mom
how the books turned out.
Where are you?
In a secret location.
Why do we need
so many small boxes?
Because some people
only need ten books.
Like Anya.
Ten books will
go to Istanbul and
twenty to Tbilisi.
Or vice versa.
I don't remember exactly.
Sasha
January.
After the installation
of CCTV cameras,
Sasha was rebuked
for sleeping by day.
Her drowsiness is
due to heart problems.
Sasha was threatened
with a written report
or even that she'd
be put in isolation.
Sasha wryly joked: "Imagine
the newspaper headlines:"
"Isolation cell for
daytime sleeping."
Filming interferes
with the normal course
of the hearing,
so cameras are banned.
Your Honor,
may I make an application?
No,
you cannot appeal to the court.
Are there applications?
On January 20, 2023,
the defense filed a petition...
...to change the preventive
measure for Sasha Skochilenko...
...from detention
to house arrest...
...because of the
deterioration in
health of the defendant,
as confirmed...
...by medical documents.
The petition was rejected.
Attorney Novolodsky,
is this an application?
I'm reading a statement,
Your Honor.
This is not a procedural appeal.
It is a procedural appeal,
Your Honor!
We do not raise
our voice in court.
Let me continue
reading the statement.
This is a document from
the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Attorney Novolodsky...
I declare that
you broke the law!
Cameras, I see cameras.
Let's continue the hearing.
Pages 87 to 90 are
a job description for
the role of senior
cashier in the shop.
After that, we have details
of the senior baker's job.
Your Honor! What
evidentiary value
can a cashier's job
description have?
Is this really
happening? A cashier's
job description
can't prove anything.
"Carrying out dough
to a machine, and
laying out dough
blanks on sheets."
"Stacking sheets of dough pieces
into containers...
...putting roll containers with
dough pieces into chamber."
"Testing the dough in
the chamber, loading
dough containers
into the rotary oven."
"Unloading finished
products from ovens."
"Assisting in pre-sale
preparation of products."
"Packing, marking..."
I'm out of breath.
Shouldn't you hide
your last name?
No.
It's already in the
case file anyway.
Hi,
Lyosha. How is my cat? I saw a
picture of you hugging
her on the couch.
I'm glad you get
on with her. Is she
sleeping on your head
yet? Licking your hair?
What has she torn already?
Has she peed on clothes?
Are you reading anything
at the moment?
I've read books on Janis Joplin,
Freddie and Pink Floyd.
I hope I'll be able to
talk to you in person
in four months' time.
I'm very optimistic...
...but feeling a bit
under the weather.
I haven't been
outside for two days,
so I struggle a bit in the cell.
I decided not to stress anymore
before hearings.
Hope to see you soon.
That's it.Sasha Skochilenko.
In the spring of the new year,
Sonya and Lyosha
went to Moscow...
...to present
Sasha's republished
book, her comic book
about depression.
They planned to use
the sales money to
support political
prisoners in Russia.
Hello everyone.
I'm very glad to see you here.
We had the idea of republishing
Sasha's books a long time ago.
Last summer we
did crowdfunding...
...and we hoped
Sasha herself would
be able to attend
this presentation.
- Everyone lie down on the floor!
- Oh, God.
Everyone get down on the floor!
Rita, we're done for.
I was queueing for the
toilet when someone
burst in and started yelling,
"On the floor!"
Lyosha is still inside.
Lyosha is still in there.
I can't leave him, Rita.
I wish he'd run away. Oh God!
I shouldn't have run away. I
don't think I did
the right thing.
You did the right thing, because
you had the
opportunity. He didn't.
It would have been worse
if you'd both been arrested.
They're being taken
to the police station.
There are six people
in the police van.
The beaten man, not Lyosha,
was put into an ambulance...
...and will be
taken to hospital.
If Lyosha is released,
we may have a
chance to get back
to St. Petersburg...
...and even get some sleep
before the hearing.
He looked at me like that
from under his mask and said:
"I believe blue hair is a
private matter for everyone."
I think it was a "coming out",
actually...
In the end, people
slowly began to be let out.
Lyosha Belozerov,
a friend from Sasha
Skochilenko's support group,
joins us.
Everyone was released after they
wrote down their
passport details.
I was at once charged
with an administrative
offense,
like unlicensed commerce.
At some point I must have said
something wrong.
The same person
who hit me at the
very beginning came
up to me again...
...and began to barge into me.
He kept saying I
was a f*gg*t and
they were going
to "r*pe" me there.
In general, telling me I'm
nobody and I have no name.
He got into the police van and
immediately started
hitting me again.
Generally went back to beating
me and insulting me non-stop.
"Do you understand, you f*gg*t?"
I just wish I could spend
two more days with you.
Why two days?
Because when we go to court, I
may be arrested, or you may be.
I wish none of this
had happened today.
Can we calm down? Please?
If they arrest me, you have
to go home immediately...
...and take my computer,
that's all.
Today everyone
will be at Sasha's
hearing. They won't
arrest me there.
Excuse me, I'm here to see a
prisoner. I stepped
away for a second.
- I know.
- Can I come in, please?
When people leave,
it will be your turn.
Thank you.
In April 2023,
Sonya learned about
the regulations
for prison visits.
Security takes your
passport and phone,
then leads you to a
cabin with iron doors.
You have to talk to
the prisoner by phone,
through the glass.
Strictly one hour only.
"Prigozhin has
gone crazy. Treason
in wartime is a serious crime."
"The order is to neutralize the
organizers of this
armed rebellion."
"Can an eagle be trained
to take down drones?"
"The criminal case
against Prigozhin
because of armed rebellion...
...was closed within days."
I don't remember.
Rita says Sonya said
there's an important
piece of paper which
must not be wrinkled.
What piece of paper is that?
Now Rita will write to Daria,
and
we will try to
resolve the issue.
I can't, Lyosha,
I'm going to hospital tomorrow.
I'm trying everything,
but it keeps getting worse.
What else do you need to do?
I want a doctor to see Sasha.
About a year after
Sasha was arrested
Sonya was diagnosed with cancer.
She doesn't want to think about
it, but she needs surgery soon.
By the way,
I now call Sasha's mother "Mom".
I will be Sasha's wife, and
it seems to be the tradition.
- Are you okay with that?
- She loves you very much.
Is it okay with you if I call
her "Mom" when we talk?
Of course!
There's no question about it.
I'm glad you want
to call her that.
- Hello.
- Hello.
Did you go?
Yes,
we went. It went very well.
When you go together,
it's somehow more relaxed.
And Sasha was in
such a good mood.
She looks good.
Well, I'd say that
she just looks normal...
...not like a dope
like it happens in there.
She says she runs.
I asked where she runs.
She says, "There's a yard, five
by three meters,
and I run there.
- But Sonya, how do you feel?
- I'm good.
When will you see
the doctor again?
September 20. I have to have
lots of tests every
three months.
- Analysis?
- Yes.
Everything is alright.
I love you.
I brought the Code
of Criminal Procedure.
There's an article
about "reasonable duration"...
"The investigation must last for
a reasonable amount of time."
I'm still trying to
figure out what
a reasonable amount of time is.
The price tag says:
"Russian conscripts
are sent to Ukraine."
"The price of this w*r is
the lives of our children."
It is indicated here
that conscripts were sent...
...and apparently more
will be sent in future.
There's nothing
about the future.
Officially they were not sent.
The fact that they were there
is completely unrelated.
That is exactly what she meant,
that officially
it was impossible,
yet they were sent.
The reliability of information
from official sources...
...is equal to the
reliability of our study.
If this is an official source of
information,
we do not doubt its reliability.
The article states,
"Communication
of knowingly false information."
If the person distributing
it understands that
the information is false,
criminal law applies.
But the prosecution
now interprets it differently:
Any information
that differs from the
authorities' version
is automatically false.
And the person
must have known this.
Sasha went through the
latest hearings without
water, food and with
very little sleep.
In July 2023,
four searches were carried
out in Sasha's
cell in two weeks.
The employees
confiscated some of
her medicines and
tore up her book.
Sonya, do you want a balloon?
- Yes.
- Pink or green?
- Pink.
- I'll change them quickly.
Does everyone remember
the words to the song?
Here they come!
Three, four...
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Sasha,
happy birthday to you
Well, at least I got
to wave at Sasha...
- I'll take balloons with me.
- Four people can come in.
I see empty seats.
Please close the door, bailiffs.
Everyone can
attend an open hearing.
Your Honor,
journalists were not allowed in.
Who is filming
the court hearing?
Dear court, and prosecutor,
I'd like to note
again that document
research has shown...
...Sasha Skochilenko to be
the author of the price tags.
Sasha, are you the
author of the price tags?
- No, I am not.
- So where did you get them?
I found them in a
group on Telegram.
I did not compose
these texts. I did not
write these texts. I
just distributed them.
Anastasia Nikolaevna,
you are an expert, but
you are now inventing
Sasha's authorship.
I did not find any information
in the examination materials...
...that refutes
Skochilenko's authorship.
Mr. Prosecutor, this is a
present for you. Take it,
please.
It's a gift. It's
Sasha's birthday.
You are the voice of truth!
- The voice of truth!
- Thanks, I'm in a hurry.
She won't be brought
out until you leave.
Very interesting. Why?
Use these doors, citizens.
Why are you in charge
of the courthouse?
Everyone leaves
through this door, citizens!
We want to see
Sasha as usual. We
never bother anyone.
You know that.
Why is some external official
taking charge of you,
dear bailiffs?
The prosecutor sent
Sasha's price tags
to St. Petersburg
State University...
...for linguists to identify any
signs of inflammatory speech.
In September, the court examined
the results of this expertise.
Before you entered this room...
...an officer refusing
to identify himself...
...threatened,
in the corridor, to use
tear gas on those
who failed to obey him.
Let's carry on with the hearing.
Dear expert, can you show us
these signs of
political hatred...
...that you identified
in the texts on
Skochilenko's price
tags? Please proceed.
Eleven verbs are
used in five statements.
They are, "bombed",
"hid", "sent"...
..."stop", "are dead",
"are silent"...
..."lie", "justify the w*r"...
..."Russia became a fascist
state", "attacked Ukraine"...
..."participated."
Of these listed verbs,
almost nine...
...have a negative communicative
background,
with a connotation of hate.
This disorients readers, causing
them to feel uneasy and anxious.
They have a persuasive effect.
Maybe it's a smell
from the street?
No, it's gas!
Call the emergency services,
so they can
put on record that
gas was used in court.
Sasha, hold on!
Wet your handkerchiefs!
We have to leave,
it won't disperse soon.
Let's use the other stairs,
over here.
Please call the
emergency services.
Until when is the
hearing postponed?
September 28.
10:30 am?
November 16, 2023.
Sasha has now spent
over 18 months in detention.
- I'm not ready for this.
- Me neither.
Sasha Skochilenko
will get the last word.
Dear listeners to this trial.
My case is so bizarre
that sometimes I feel as
if confetti will start
falling in the courtroom.
My case is so bizarre
that the staff of the
prison I'm in, exclaimed
with wide open eyes:
"Do they really put
people in prison for that?"
Even though I'm
the one in the cage,
I'm probably a lot
freer than you are.
I'm not afraid to seem strange,
vulnerable, weak, funny.
I'm not afraid
to be different than others.
It may seem strange,
but I sympathize with you.
Wars do not end
thanks to soldiers. They
end through the
initiatives of pacifists.
Yes, I'm a pacifist.
If we discard all the
tinsel of this world...
...such as cars, apartments,
wealth, power, success...
...there is ultimately
only one thing:
Oh yes, that is life itself.
Life is incredible.
Life is amazing, unique,
persistent, life is strong.
The judge enters.
The verdict is announced.
Verdict in the criminal case
against Sasha Skochilenko...
...date of birth 09.13.1990,
no children.
Sasha Skochilenko
has been found guilty
of committing a crime
under article 207.3.
She is sentenced to a
prison term of seven years.
Shame on you!
We will keep fighting for you.
We will fight on...
I love you.
And I love you.
More than life itself.
We will be rewarded
for everything.
We will have a
wonderful life.
I love you more than
anything in
the world. More
than life itself.
Everything will be fine.
Everything will be fine,
I promise. Come visit me soon.
All leave the room!
Please come soon.
I will come to you on Tuesday
with Lyosha.
- I love you more than life.
- All leave the room!
Can I hold her
hand for a second?
No, it's prohibited. Get out.
This is the person
dearest to me.
Don't make me use force.
Use it!
Don't touch Sonya!
Keep your hands to yourself!
This session is over. Get out.
Dear friends, let us go.
It is not known in
which prison Sasha will
have to serve her
seven-year sentence.
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