Pyotr Farber held a solidarity protest at Vorovyovy Gory on Monday for the case against his father Ilya Farber, a rural teacher sentenced to seven years imprisonment for exceeding authority and bribery.
The young man protested what he believes was a wrongful conviction by sitting inside a locked cage with the inscription "800 days" in wrought iron letters on the front, representing the number of days his father has been imprisoned, Novaya Gazeta reported.
Farber's protest continued for almost 12 hours until emergency workers cut the padlocks on his cage and he was taken to a local police station. During the entire duration of the action Farber had neither food nor water and was buffeted by gusts of wind in a cold autumn drizzle.
He spoke to no one during the duration of his time in the cage, his friends said.
In 2010 Ilya Farber moved from Moscow to a village in the Tver Region, where he began working as a local teacher and director of a country club.
He was accused of extorting a bribe from a director of a construction firm repairing the club's building. In August 2012 Farber was found guilty and sentenced to eight years in prison. Тhe Supreme Court cancelled the decision on appeal and sent the case back for review.
In August of this year an Ostashkov court again found Farber guilty and sentenced him to seven years. A regional court has since sent the second decision in Farber's case for another local trial.
Farber has maintained his innocence and denied all accusations against him throughout the entire period of his prosecution.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
