"Those who want to convey the truth and defend their rights are called extremists."
Security forces raid the homes of Altai grandmothers. This video, published in May by former Moscow deputy Yevgeny Stupin, was widely broadcast.
In the Altai Republic, security forces "heroically" searched the homes of "terrorists"—local grandmothers and disabled people. They are accused of practicing their traditional religion, Altai Ak Dune, which the Russian authorities have banned. What exactly the grandmothers did that was socially dangerous and who they harmed has not been reported, but one of them is already in intensive care. This is the fight against "terrorism," so to speak. commented Stupin's post.
REN TV later aired footage of the searches, reporting that the women's homes were searched as part of a criminal case against Vasily Chekurashev. Chekurashev was accused of founding the "Karakol Initiative Group" sect. The report claimed that Chekurashev proclaims himself "the god of the whole world," and his followers consider Orthodox Christians and Buddhists their enemies. NeMoskva spoke with two Altai activists, epidemiologist and lawyer Arzhana Tranova (whose home was also searched by security forces), and philologist Natalya Anchisheva, who also works as a human rights activist. Security forces had previously targeted Arzhan. pursued for “extremism”.
— When did they start persecuting you, Natalia?
"Persecution by law enforcement began ten years ago, when the Altai people began reviving their ancient faith, the worship of nature. For us, this is a completely normal phenomenon: worshiping nature, making offerings to the fire, tying ribbons. But before the creation of the Altai Republic, in 1991, our Altai elite—officials, journalists, scientists, and staff of the Altai Studies Institute—met in Junsei Terasawa(Terasawa is a Japanese Buddhist monk known for his anti-war activities. He spoke out against the war in Chechnya and now supports Ukraine – editor's note). He later invited them to Japan to introduce them to his teachings, the "Lotus Sutra." After that, they began to introduce this Buddhist culture to the Altai community. They erected statues and built structures. And they said that we would not accept the entire Buddhist faith with its canons, and we would not revive the Altai faith either. There would be a third option – a symbiosis of the Altai faith and Buddhism. The Altai people became outraged and filed complaints with various authorities. And in 2018, a court declared our faith, the faith of the Altai people, an extremist organization. Even though faith is considered intangible cultural heritage. This is the same as declaring Orthodoxy an extremist organization. After that, they began initiating administrative cases, fining people, and accusing them of distributing extremist materials. And so, on April 16th, they searched the homes of our grandmothers, bearers of the Altai culture. Simply because they weren't afraid that their faith was declared extremist.
— Arzhana, what exactly happened on May 16th, when the security forces came to you?
— The security forces came to search different villages at the same time, to different people's homes. At six in the morning. Two operatives, one FSB officer, and one investigator. They immediately forced the men to the floor at gunpoint. They just walked into my room, because I don't lock the house. I started filming them, and they immediately took my phone. Interns served as witnesses, even though that's a violation. No one was allowed to call a lawyer. The security forces did everything they could to humiliate us. It was six in the morning, and all the women were in nightgowns and shirts. Later, it turned out they were secretly filming the whole thing. And then it was broadcast to REN TV, where they openly showed our faces. They threatened to take away one woman, a mother of many children, from her children. They also went to the parents of a girl, and when they saw she wasn't home, they scared them. Only then did they go to the address where the girl lived.
All the searches were carried out with violations. For example, Natalya Abraimova's search warrant stated that a search was to be conducted at Grigory Mikhailovich Balin's home in the village of Yabaka, but the search actually took place at a different address—in the village of Kyrlyk. Apparently, they came to search Grigory Mikhailovich's home, but instead, they confiscated Natalya Petrovna's belongings. Her research papers were confiscated, and REN TV aired them, claiming they were broadcasting extremist materials. They also confiscated a history of the Altai Territory, which had been published back in the USSR. REN TV also showed footage of people gathering to pick nuts and mending sacks, which was actually taken from the personal phone of one of the grandmothers. They claimed people were going to war, not picking pine cones.
— So, literature about Altai culture is confiscated during searches?
"Yes, it's literature about customs and traditions. How to visit holy places, how to tie ribbons. All of this, according to the security forces, is extremist material. We see this as the authorities' reluctance to see the people unite and regenerate. After all, Russia's strength lies in its multinationality and diversity. They also confiscate all of our evidence about pseudo-Buddhism during searches. All these court decisions, decrees, and without the originals, you can't appeal anywhere. There was an incident where they beat a confession out of me. I was accused of vandalism, supposedly smashing some sacred statue. They interrogated me for several hours. Only later did it emerge that another local resident, drunk, had smashed it. And the entire criminal case against me immediately fell apart."
When we contact federal authorities, everything immediately goes quiet. There was a similar incident in 2020: security officers came to my house, and I started filming, and an officer punched me in the face. As soon as we filed a complaint with Moscow, the case was immediately dropped. Both against me and against the officer. They said, "Nobody's bothering anybody."
— What's happening to those women now? You said one of them is in intensive care?
"I'll say the consequences are dire, because all the grandmothers are in a state of stress, one is in intensive care. And journalists don't want to talk to us because the topic is extremism, terrorism. It's quite frightening. We see that those who want to convey the truth and defend their rights are being called extremists. For example, in Orsk, people were flooded, and they started expressing their discontent, and they were also called extremists."
