Boris Monastyrsky, August 1973
In August 1973 the Donetsk Region Court sentenced Boris Borisovich MONASTYRSKY (b. 1935) to three years’ imprisonment, under Article 187-1 (UkSSR Criminal Code = Article 190-1, RSFSR Code).
He served his punishment in corrective-labour colony 87 of the Donetsk Administration for Corrective-Labour Institutions. Even before his sentence ended a new ‘camp’ case was begun against him, this time under Article 62 (Ukrainian SSR Criminal Code = Article 70, RSFSR Code).
On 6 May 1976 the Donetsk Region Court heard his case in closed session. The presiding judge was E.N. Zinchenko, the prosecution was conducted by procurator Yu.Ya. Noskov, and the court-appointed defence counsel was the lawyer F.I. Alexevnin.
The verdict reads:
“. . . when serving his punishment Monastyrsky . . . did not choose to reform but, pursuing anti-Soviet aims, began to carry on subversive activity against Soviet society and the Soviet regime. During the years 1974-1975 the accused systematically wrote letters to various State authorities and public organisations, discrediting the Soviet state and social system in the eyes of citizens; he slandered the CPSU and Soviet reality and composed verses of anti-Soviet content.”
The evidence against Monastyrsky also included a letter to his mother and four letters to Akhto Levi, “‘of a libellous nature”. (Akhto Levi is the author of “Notes of Grey Wolf”.)
While serving his punishment, Monastyrsky spread his hostile fabrications among the prisoners by word of mouth, with the aim of systematically subverting the Soviet regime, slandering Soviet reality, the Soviet State system, the USSR Constitution and Soviet law. In court the accused said that he had not been aiming to subvert or weaken the Soviet regime as stated in the verdict by the actions he was charged with.
However, the explanation given by Monastyrsky as to his aims is contradicted by the following evidence. From the testimony given by the accused himself, during the pre-trial investigation and the court hearing, it is clear that in 1974-1975 he did indeed write verses and letters of an anti-Soviet character . . . The verses and letters listed above are anti-Soviet in content, gravely libelling the socialist system, the policies of the CPSU, the Soviet people and Soviet law, and thus proving anti-Soviet intent in Monastyrsky’s actions.
The court sentenced Monastyrsky to six years and four months in a strict-regime camp, after taking into account the period he still had to serve according to his first sentence. His term of imprisonment is due to end on 8 April 1982. Monastyrsky is now in Perm-36.
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