Fascist attack on anti-nuclear protest camp in Russia

One activist dead and several injured.
Protesters urgently need support

On 21 July, at 5am in the morning, fascists
attacked an anti-nuclear action camp against Angarsk nuclear enrichment
plant in the Siberian city of Angarsk. Although the protesters had some
prior knowledge of the possibility of an attack, and therefore had
three night guards in place, the strength of the attack came as a
surprise. More than 15 fascists attacked the 21 campers with iron bars,
knives, and pneumatic pistols, attacking people sleeping in their
tents. All tents of the camp were burned down. Several activists were
seriously injured. One person, Ilya Bodoraenko, a 21 years old activist
of Autonomous Action from Nachodka, died in hospital as a result of
skull fractures and other injuries from the attack. Two activists were
still in hospital at the time of writing.

Police response

According to reports from Sibera, police arrested
two of the attackers soon afterwards, and a further 13 had been
identified by police. More arrests had been made later. Sources from
the protest camp confirmed at least 10 arrests.

However, the police is denying that the attacks had a political motive.
Police spokesman Valery Gribakin was quoted by ITAR-Tass news agency as
suggesting that theft had appeared to be a motive for the attacks:
Police had confiscated a rucksack and telephone from the detained that
had belonged to the protesters, he said. "Investigators are inclined
to believe that the attack was motivated by hooliganism with the aim
stealing property", he said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Valery Grigakin denied
the attack was from right wing extremists saying "All of those
detained are young people. Some of them are unemployed, some are
students. As they explained ... they wanted to run amok and get some
money out of the tourists and the people at the camp," he said in
televised remarks according to the International Herald Tribune.

However, "they were well prepared, wearing masks," said Andrei
Kravchuk, one of the environmental protesters at the camp at the time. "They
shouted nationalist slogans," he said according to the NTV channel
as quoted in an International Herald Tribune report.

The
Moscow Times reported today: The suspects will be charged with
hooliganism and intentional grievous bodily harm resulting in death,
Gribakin said. A hooliganism conviction carries a maximum punishment of
seven years in prison, while the second, more serious charge has a
maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Gribakin promised to bring all
the attackers to justice. "Work will not stop even for one minute," he
said, Interfax reported.

Irkutsk regional police, however, are reluctant to classify the attack
as a nationalist-related crime, the activists said. "The local police
want to present the attack as ordinary hooliganism. They very
grudgingly wrote down that we told them the attackers shouted slogans
against anti-fascists," said Igor Kozlov, a member of Autonomous
Action, Ekho Moskvy radio reported.

Mikhail Kreindlin, head of Greenpeace in Russia,
and Alexander Brod, director of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights,
said it was too early to start pointing fingers in Saturday's attack.
But Brod said authorities in the past have hired local criminal groups
to silence dissent and write it off as hooliganism.

Despite the attack, the activists were hoping to renew their protest
with a new camp Thursday. They accuse authorities of illegally making
money at the Angarsk Electrolysis Chemical Complex by allowing foreign
companies to send spent fuel there for reprocessing. In addition to
reprocessing, the plant has been enriching uranium for the past 50
years for use in nuclear power plants.

It is presently difficult to know who has been behind the attacks
in Angarsk. However, War Resisters' International is concerned that
there won't be a proper police investigation - the first statements
from police sources are not promising.

Help needed

The activists from the protest camp now need help urgently. Money is
being collected to pay for the transfer of the body of Ilya Bodoraenko
and his funeral, for the medical treatment of the other injured
activists, and the set-up of the camp. War Resisters' International
asks for donations to its own accounts, clearly stating "help for
Angarsk protest camp" in the transfer slip:

Eurozone: by giro transfer to War Resisters’ International,
in Euros to Bank of Ireland, IBAN IE91 BOFI 9000 9240 413547, SWIFT/BIC
BOFIIE2D

Britain: by giro transfer to War Resisters’ International, in £
sterling to Unity Trust Bank, Account number 5072 7388 Sort code:
08-60-01 (IBAN GB11 CPBK 0800 5150 07 32 10, SWIFT
CPBKGB22), or by sending a cheque payable to War Resisters'
International to War Resisters' International, 5 Caledonian Road,
London N1 9DX

USA: Send a cheque made out to War Resisters' International to:
Ralph di Gia, c/o War Resisters League (WRL) 339 Lafayette Street, New
York NY 10012

In any case, please send an email to class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:info@wri-irg.org">info@wri-irg.org,
with "help for
Angarsk protest camp" in the subject line, stating the amount and where
you sent the money to.

War Resisters' International will forward all donations to the
Russian activists.

In several cities, activists are organising vigils at Russian embassies
or elsewhere. Plans are being made for a vigil in London on Thursday,
but these are not yet confirmed.