Russian law enforcement authorities provided an arrest warrant for Sargylana Kondakova, a Yukaghir activist and co-founder of the banished anti-war group Free Yakutia Foundation, media reported Wednesday.Kondakova, who currently lives in Australia, stated she found out of the warrant for her arrest from reporters at the exiled news site Mediazona, which keeps track of the Russian Interior Ministrys wanted list.I have not gotten any main notice or information about criminal charges being pushed against me, Kondakova told The Moscow Times.
Offered my public anti-war and human rights activities, I presume this is a politically determined case.Russias Justice Ministry labeled Kondakova a foreign agent in August 2023.
She thinks the arrest warrant might stem from declared noncompliance with Russias foreign representative law or her public criticism of the war in Ukraine.Authorities formerly fined Kondakova for infractions of the foreign representative and army fakes laws, along with for reposting content from media outlets designated as undesirable.A local of Russias Far East republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Kondakova co-founded the Free Yakutia Foundation in exile soon after the full-blown intrusion of Ukraine in 2022.
The group has actually because become the areas biggest Indigenous-led anti-war movement.Free Yakutia says it has assisted hundreds of diligent objectors prevent military service to Ukraine, supported dozens of persecuted activists and led an online counter-propaganda project versus local authorities in Sakha.Russia designated Free Yakutia a foreign representative in June 2023, banned it as an extremist organization last July and later on included it to a list of terrorist entities that includes more than 170 Indigenous, ethnic and decolonial groups.This pressure [from the authorities], of course, features real dangers but it will not stop me or the structures work, Kondakova informed The Moscow Times.
Free Yakutia will continue to speak the truth about the war, about human rights violations and the predicament of Indigenous peoplein Russia.The persecution is simply further evidence that our work discuss concerns that are delicate for the program, she added.