How to run support groups for political prisoners

Lessons from the teams of Sasha Skochilenko, the “Network” case and others

Translation of the original article in Russian: Teplitsa of Social Technologies, May 10, 2023 ↗
The original is published under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence; this translation is distributed under the same licence.

In Russia, 608 people are recognised as political prisoners, and the number is growing. To help people who have been targeted by repression, their friends and families organise support groups. These teams are an important form of public solidarity, helping people behind bars to exercise their rights. Teplitsa talked to the support groups of Sasha Skochilenko, the “Network” case, and the Tyumen and Moscow cases about how to set up and run such groups.

Note: figures and references are as of the original’s publication date (May 2023).

Who political prisoners are

There is no precise definition of a political prisoner. The international human rights organisation Amnesty International considers a prisoner of conscience anyone who is “deprived of liberty not only because of their political, religious or other beliefs, but also because of their race, nationality, origin, economic status, sexual orientation and gender identity, or other characteristics”. Another criterion is not having used violence or called for violence or hatred.

The project “Political Prisoners Support. Memorial” has drawn up full Guidelines on the definition of “political prisoner” to describe whom it recognises as victims of political repression. The criteria match Amnesty’s definition, but extend it to prisoners whose detention “was based on falsified evidence”, to cases where the length or conditions of detention are “clearly disproportionate (inadequate) to the offence”, to people deprived of liberty “selectively in comparison to others”, and to those tortured during and after arrest.

Why support groups are needed

In real democracies, not imitation ones, publicising politically motivated persecution helps stir public discontent and put pressure on the authorities. In Russia, public discontent may have no effect at all on judges’ decisions, as in the case of Alexei Navalny and other prisoners of conscience. But there are successes too: for example, the case of Ivan Golunov or the recent acquittal of the feminist artist Yulia Tsvetkova.

So what do support groups do? They raise money to pay lawyers and help political prisoners throughout their sentence. Groups matter for the psychological support of the prisoners themselves and of their loved ones, who find themselves up against the machinery of repression. In many cases, when the defendants in political cases are not public figures, only their family and lawyer fight for them. The parents, often a single parent, carry all the work of support: dozens of tasks a day on which the prisoner’s life and health depend.

We never needed to write in our channel: “Help us tomorrow with this and that”, there was always someone we could ask privately. But many others don’t have that option. Some political prisoners have only their mum and a lawyer, who are swamped with an enormous amount of daily work. That boring work nobody cares about is really what support groups exist for.
— Anonymous, Sasha Skochilenko’s support group

So support groups:

raise money to pay lawyers;
organise demonstrations, rallies and single-person pickets outside courts;
run campaigns of solidarity letters to victims of human rights violations, petitions and appeals to the authorities;
organise concerts and other public events to draw attention;
run information and media campaigns;
work with civil society organisations and handle comments to the media;
help human rights defenders and keep in touch with the lawyer;
fight for the prisoner’s psychological and physical well-being.

Support groups also become a way of standing together. Supporting political prisoners also means uniting society in defence of democratic values: freedom of speech, assembly and association, and the independence of the judiciary.

How to run a support group

We talked to four support groups with different experiences. Sasha Skochilenko’s case is the experience of a group supporting a single defendant who already had some media profile, and whose friends had experience of political activism and knew journalists and human rights defenders. The Moscow case and the “Network” case are trials lasting many years with many defendants, some of whom are still behind bars. The Tyumen case is the experience of a regional support group that did not have the active media support of the “Network” and Moscow cases.

Where to start

Support groups start with chats. Usually friends and family gather in a chat to share important information about helping the defendant, and then the active core of that chat becomes the support group. What to do straight away:

find out who among the members has relevant experience and skills, how much they can take on and whether they have preferences about tasks;
divide responsibilities: who talks to the lawyer and runs the social media, who keeps in touch with the family and sends parcels to the defendant, and who does the fundraising;
agree on communication rules so you can work effectively. You can read our practical guides on respectful, non-toxic communication and on moderating activist group chats (in Russian). Don’t forget chat security and vetting its members;
if nobody in the group has supported a political prisoner before, you can draw up a task list along the lines listed above.

For example, one member of the Moscow case support group considers it the most successful case, because they managed to cover all the key areas: helping the family, the information campaign, the prisoners’ needs (parcels, letters, money for their prison accounts), and legal help beyond the lawyer’s work (a power of attorney to take a prisoner’s child abroad, applications for visits or for a wedding).

Where to look for help

In autumn 2022, six anarchists were arrested in Yekaterinburg, Surgut and Tyumen and accused of setting up a “terrorist community” intending to blow up military enlistment offices, police stations and the railways used to send military equipment to Ukraine. After their arrest all six pleaded guilty, but they soon told their lawyers that they had been forced to make those statements under torture: they were beaten, suffocated with a bag, threatened with rape with a mop and given electric shocks.

Once they had recovered from the initial shock, members of the Tyumen case support group turned to other support groups for advice. For example, when pro-government media published a story claiming that one of the defendants “recruited Nazis”, the group decided not to react, but an experienced “mentor” persuaded them to step in.

“We were told that if we did nothing now, this tabloid story would flood the information space and we would never be able to prove anything to anyone afterwards,” say members of the Tyumen defendants’ support group. “That we had to refute it all urgently. So that’s what we did. He gave us contacts of journalists and outlets trusted by the community of, let’s say, dissenters.”

A support group very often has to ask people for help, both publicly and privately. Members of Sasha Skochilenko’s support group found it very helpful to drop false modesty: the world is full of wonderful people, and instead of waiting for someone to offer help, you can ask first. The main thing is to remember that everyone has their own commitments and troubles, and to ask directly and clearly, saving other people the time and effort of working out what you need. It’s also important not to be shy about reminding people of your request (everyone is very busy) and not to take refusals personally.

The following human rights organisations and projects helping political prisoners can advise a support group (Telegram channels, in Russian):

And individual human rights defenders:

How to communicate with defendants

Anyone who has been politically active in Russia knows that even under arrest people often find ways to get hold of a phone or other means of communication. For ethical reasons we won’t describe that, but we will explain how to communicate in the permitted ways.

Donations collected by Skochilenko’s support group paid for weekly lawyer visits to the pre-trial detention centre. A second lawyer, hired for this at the group’s initiative (the main defence lawyer was too busy), eventually joined the trial itself. Skochilenko now has three lawyers, and the regular visits are handled by Sasha’s friend, whom the court admitted as a defender on a par with the lawyers. Russia’s Code of Criminal Procedure allows people without lawyer status to take part in a trial, and this is another important role a support group can play! Being defended and visited by someone close to them gives a political prisoner extra moral support, takes some load off the lawyers and saves money.

“Regular meetings with a lawyer are very important. Of course a prisoner can receive letters, which matters a lot and is very supportive, but nothing replaces face-to-face contact with someone from outside the System. The staff where a political prisoner is held know that whatever they do, a lawyer will come in a few days and everyone will find out. Maybe that keeps them in check a little,” Skochilenko’s support group adds.

Don’t forget to call the lawyer before a visit to the defendant, to ask them to put important questions and to note down words for social media posts (such posts are not prohibited!). Letters and parcels should be sent regularly: they are still your main ways of communicating with political prisoners. You’ll find out exactly how to send letters and parcels as soon as you try it yourself. Don’t forget to write instructions for the other members of your group and for your followers on social media.

Don’t wait for the defendant to ask: prepare parcels in advance. For example, send winter clothes in autumn and summer clothes in March. Send vitamins, work out yourself when they will run out and send the next batch ahead of time. Every month, put the money you’ve collected into the prisoner’s or detainee’s account with the prison service (FSIN): depending on how well fundraising goes, the team recommends around 5,000–7,000 roubles a month.

How to get people involved

As soon as you launch groups or pages on social media, set up a feedback bot or give the contact of a member who can answer incoming requests (preferably someone living abroad). Remind people now and then that they can join the support group. It’s to the bot or in private messages that people who have written to the defendant and received replies with specific requests can pass on whatever the defendant asked for. A book, for example.

All the support groups also think followers on social media can be involved in simple tasks. Skochilenko’s group, for example, many times asked them to send appeals about Sasha’s case to various authorities: this is an important form of public help for a political prisoner.

“That particular office may not even have the power to decide on the issue, but you have to write,” says an activist from the group. “First, because sometimes there’s no other way to work out who is responsible for what. Second, even the one who is responsible will still have to be convinced that a given right must be respected. Third, in our case problems were often solved before the official reply arrived: what mattered more was the publicity and the very fact that appeals were being sent.”

In other words:

state the request clearly and precisely,
draft a sample text,
find and give your helpers all the contacts they need.

Petitions are another important format. Change.org lets you not only post a petition but also email everyone who signed it, and so find new members.

Which communication channels to use

Nobody can tell you the ideal set of social networks and platforms. You can run joint channels for all the defendants in a group case instead of creating separate pages for each one. Decide which audiences you are targeting and choose the networks for each. Regional groups can also use VK, but don’t forget that it is transparent to Russian law enforcement and avoid communicating directly with people through it.

“For social media we used Facebook, Telegram and VK, the most popular with Russian audiences,” say members of the “Network” case team. “The need for a website came up almost immediately too, because a website is a handy archive of everything happening around the case, and that’s where the main information about the case was translated into several languages, which brought support from abroad: from simple mentions to solidarity actions in other countries and fundraising for the defendants.”

The groups for Sasha Skochilenko, the “Network” case and the Moscow case have websites. The teams created them to make it easier for readers and the media to follow the case. The Tyumen case team has a website in the works.

To build a website for a political prisoner, you can use Teplitsa’s WordPress theme “Kandinsky”. It was designed specifically for NGOs and activists, and Kandinsky recently gained a “News” block for quickly launching media sites and information campaigns.

Working with the media and opinion leaders

Working with journalists is a separate area. Don’t expect outlets to contact you on their own. It makes sense to be proactive and be the first to share news with journalists and outlets.

The media are reluctant to pick up press releases, so it’s better to write specifically and to the point. For example: our defendants are being denied the medicines they need; they have dropped their lawyers because of pressure. As an example, you can read Mediazona’s coverage of the Tyumen case: the selection of articles shows the support group’s work very well.

Below are independent journalistic outlets and other projects that cover these topics (Telegram channels, in Russian):

How to work with the lawyer

Skochilenko’s closest friends work actively with her lawyers: they not only ask them to comment publicly and report on the trial, but also help find experts and obtain character references, guarantees and the like: “However good a lawyer is, you have to work with them. Don’t expect them to come and make everything perfect: there are many political cases, few lawyers willing to take them on, and they are all overloaded. You have to figure things out yourselves, suggest ideas, start discussions.”

How to handle group cases

The support group for a group case needs to be bigger: at least 7 people involved every day, and more if there are many defendants. Each detainee will have their own lawyer, through whom you can follow the case and publish materials. It’s great if you can assign 1–2 volunteers to each defendant to stay in touch with the family and lawyers.

We have handled many group cases. Most often some defendants are less visible or had no public profile. I’m very glad that our support group gave equal coverage to each person’s case. This is really important!
— Member of the Moscow case support group

If you’ve only managed to gather a couple of active members, don’t despair either: try to divide the work according to your skills, and look for new volunteers over time. A small support group is far better than none.

How to raise money

Work out how much you need to raise each month. If you’re raising money for several defendants at once, the amount will be higher. In that case it’s better to raise funds officially.

“People helped us set up the fundraising: either sole traders or NGOs who registered the fundraiser in their name. There was a public offer agreement and a payment system on the website,” say members of the Moscow case support group.

For example, in the Moscow case each detainee needed on average 50,000 roubles a month. Most of it, around 30,000 roubles, went to the political prisoner’s family, and around 5,000–7,000 to their prison account. But needs vary: in some cases the family doesn’t need money, while a trial may require an expert assessment costing 100,000 roubles.

You always need a lot of money, so we had to think about how to earn it. In our case it was selling merch. It also helped a lot that the defendants came from activist, anarchist and antifascist circles, so solidarity reached other countries too: fundraising there helped us a great deal.
— Member of the “Network” case support group

To collect donations on your website, you can use Teplitsa’s free and secure plugin “Leyka”, which supports several Russian and international payment systems, including PayPal. Individuals can use Leyka too.

Events help fundraising as well: exhibitions, auctions, rallies. Skochilenko’s support group, for example, published her book, and the Moscow case group ran media campaigns and supported a theatre production based on the prosecution’s case files.

On ethics

Respecting the prisoner’s agency

A support group doesn’t just run social media about a political prisoner’s case: for years it becomes the defendant’s main channel of public communication with the outside world. Groups publish the prisoner’s posts and letters. In other words, they help the person feel present and express their individuality, thoughts and feelings. You need to be sensitive to this role and respect the person’s agency.

“The prisoner has already been stripped of freedom of action and freedom of speech by being put in prison,” says a member of the Moscow case support group. “They already have a censor for their letters, so you can’t be another censor between the defendant and the media. It can be very hard. It’s one thing when someone writes ‘Down with Putin!’ and you think it’s dangerous for them during the trial… But when someone writes utter nonsense, you have to find a way to get that across, to persuade them: you have no right to simply restrict them.”

Communicating with families

The support group for the Tyumen defendants met resistance from relatives who believed that, in the prisoner’s interest, nothing should be said publicly. In this situation the group chose to go against the family’s wishes and listen to the defendant himself: “It’s a kind of protest politics, when protest is needed so that people understand what’s going on. Of course we realised this might not be the politics we needed right now, but we do what we do.”

Communicating with families is as important as communicating with the defendants themselves.

“Every one of these moments needs to be treated with respect,” says a member of the Moscow case support group. “Communicating with relatives, as with anyone in trauma, is hard. One mother, for example, cried so much that it was impossible not to be drawn into her grief. But you have to remember that I, for example, have no one in prison right now, while this parent is going through the most terrible grief.”

Support group burnout

It’s important to understand that a support group is a long-term commitment. Political cases drag on in court for years, and the need for help doesn’t end with the verdict. People will leave (and come back): look for new members and help them get involved.

“From time to time you should take ‘holidays’ from the chats, the news and the tasks, and be understanding when another activist needs such a break,” concludes a member of the “Network” case group. “Some leave because they simply can’t cope, and finding new people can be almost impossible, because once everyone has learned to work together and knows the specifics of the case, it’s hard to bring in someone from outside. Some will be more involved, some less, and the load will differ, because the tasks differ too: writing a text, doing something on the website, handling merch, communicating with relatives or defenders, sending parcels, organising events… Everyone will go crazy, there’s no other way.”