Activists announce collection to pay for lawyer for political prisoner from Yessentuki

After the arrest of Yessentuki resident Nikolai Murnev, accused of preparing to set fire to a military registration and enlistment office in Pyatigorsk, his wife was left alone with four children.

As reported by "Kavkazsky Uzel", Nikolai Murnev, Sergei Dudchenko, Vladimir Burmay and another Yessentuki resident, later identified as Kirill Buzmakov, were accused of preparing a terrorist attack (Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) in Pyatigorsk; their case is being heard in court. According to the prosecution, they planned to set fire to the military registration and enlistment office. In August, it became known that Buzmakov died at home; he was released from the pretrial detention center in serious condition. Human rights activists have recognized Nikolai Murnev and Sergei Dudchenko as political prisoners.

The Open Space political prisoner support project has announced a fundraiser to pay for the lawyer of Nikolai Murnev, a car mechanic and father of four children who has been in custody since October 2022.

To pay for the lawyer's work in Nikolai Murnev's case before the verdict, 440 thousand rubles are needed. Murnev's wife Anna, who is now raising four children alone, does not have the opportunity to pay such an amount. The collection is being conducted on the mutual aid platform “Zaodno” (At the Same Time); as of 19:55 Moscow time today, a little more than a quarter of the required amount has been collected - 120,200 rubles.

Murnev and other defendants discussed the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine and criticized the political leadership of the Russian Federation in a closed chat for eight people.

“The prosecution’s only evidence is the confessions of the defendants themselves, given under torture. (...) The indictment provides many quotes from this chat, although no actions to prepare for the terrorist attack that the defendants are accused of were discussed there. For the totality of the charges, Nikolai faces up to 13 years in prison,” the publication of the Telegram channel “Open Space” says.

Murnev’s wife Anna reported today that she was able to get a meeting with him, the first since November 2023. According to his wife, the prisoner is preparing his final statement for the trial.

“I saw Kolya. He’s fine. He’s not sick. Of course, he misses home, his family, freedom, but he tries to stay cheerful. He receives letters, sends replies, but they probably don’t always get through. He reads books. He tries his hand at drawing (...) He was glad to receive all your greetings. It’s important for him to know that there are people outside who support him. He also conveyed his gratitude to all those who participate in the collections and help us in every possible way,” she wrote in a Telegram channel dedicated to the case.

Human rights activists reported that Murnev was tortured both after his arrest and later, while in the Rostov pretrial detention center. On the first day of his arrest, a lawyer took a photo of Murnev, whose face bore clear signs of beating. In the pretrial detention center, he was pressured by prisoners who collaborated with the administration, and there Murnev, in order to avoid torture, was forced to injure himself in the neck.

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