Transgender Activist on Terrorism Charges Protests Jail Conditions with Hunger Strike

A transgender woman currently facing trial for allegedly promoting terrorism online has initiated a hunger strike to express her dissatisfaction with her conditions in prison, according to a prisoners’ rights organization.

Olga Sivushkova, 37, was taken into custody in January for allegedly disseminating a link to an interview with a spokesperson from the Freedom of Russia Legion, a paramilitary group based in Ukraine that comprises Russian citizens opposed to the Kremlin.

“I’m struggling to speak because today marks the 13th day of my hunger strike,” Sivushkova reportedly told a judge on Monday, as cited by the prisoners’ rights group, Russia Behind Bars.

“The situation is dire. I am forced to sleep on the floor. They are exerting pressure on me in an effort to break my spirit and disgrace me,” she conveyed through a video link from a pre-trial detention facility in the Vologda region.

Sivushkova is facing a military court in St. Petersburg and could be sentenced to up to seven years in prison for charges related to the online justification of terrorism.

An independent news source, Sotavision, reported that Sivushkova has accused investigators of conducting an unlawful search of her home, and claimed her court-appointed lawyer misled her into signing a confession under the false assurance that she would face merely a fine.

Previously, she was linked to reports claiming she acted as a police informant in a notable case involving seven young activists who received prison sentences and suspended sentences for allegedly planning to overthrow President Vladimir Putin.

Sivushkova has since changed her name from Olga Pshenichnikova to Olga Sivushkova.

According to the news site Mediazona, law enforcement officials found an Israeli passport during their searches, which was issued to Andrei Pshenichnikov, her male name prior to transitioning.

Mediazona also reported that the Pshenichnikov family immigrated to Israel from Tajikistan when Sivushkova was a 13-year-old boy, and that Pshenichnikov later served four years in the Israeli Defense Forces.

The military court in St. Petersburg has proposed that the remainder of Sivushkova’s trial be closed to the public in order to protect sensitive medical information pertaining to her gender transition, as stated by Sotavision.

“Let everything be disclosed,” she was quoted as stating.