Leonid Martynyuk

Leonid Martynyuk

Leonid Martynyuk (Russian: Леони́д Серге́евич Мартыню́к) (born June 20, 1978) is a Russian opposition author, video producer and journalist.[1]

Biography

Born in Lviv, Ukraine,[2] Martynyuk is a graduate of Kuban State University (faculty of history, sociology, and international relations)[3] and studied at the school of public policy of the Open Russia foundation.[3]

In 1999-2006 Martynyuk worked in the campaign headquarters and the executive committee of the Krasnodar branch of the Union of Right Forces party and represented the organization in election commissions. In 2006-08 he worked as PR-manager on a Nokia project in the company Agency of Humanitarian Technologies - South.[4]

Political activity

Leonid Martynyuk is a member[5] of the political councils of the Solidarnost (Solidarity) opposition movement and a former member[3] of the political councils of the People's Freedom Party. He worked in the Krasnodar office of the Union of Right Forces party from 1999 to 2006.[3]

He is a co-author of the reports The Life of a Galley Slave (Palaces, Yachts, Cars, Planes and Other Accessories),[6][7][8][9] Winter Olympics in the Sub-Tropics: Corruption and Abuse in Sochi[3][10][11] and Putin. War.[12]

Leonid Martynyuk is the author of a viral YouTube channel titled The Lies of Putin's Regime,[13][14][15] which has a total of over 33 million views for all the videos posted.

Persecution in Russia

In August 2014, the Moscow arbitration court began hearings on the claim[16] launched by Vladimir Yakunin, the head of Russian Railways, one of the largest state-owned companies, against the authors of the investigative report Winter Olympics in the Subtropics,[17] Boris Nemtsov, a leader of the Russian opposition, and Leonid Martynyuk. The plaintiff asked the court to require the defendants to refute them and to pay jointly and severally to 3 million rubles.[18] A representative of Russian Railways claimed: "Almost all of the Russian Railways' negative reputation abroad is due to the defendants' report. The media reprinted this report in whole or partially about 400 times, including statements about Russian Railways. This greatly distorted the entire news media image of Russian Railways. It became negative."[19]

Leonid Martynyuk was arrested[1] in Krasnodar, Russia, on August 23, 2014, when he and his wife were traveling on the commuter train from Sochi to Krasnodar, a provocateur attacked Leonid Martynyuk, but the police wound up seizing and accusing Leonid Martynyuk of "hooliganism" (Art. 20-1).[1] He spent 10 days in jail. According to Boris Nemtsov,[20] this incident was staged in retaliation against opposition activity of Leonid Martynyuk, triggered in particular by his movie "Who Shot Down the Boeing over Donbass?",[21] which had collected a million hits. The co-сhairs of the People’s Freedom Party Boris Nemtsov and Mikhail Kasyanov issued a statement,[22] in which they called the charges of hooliganism fabricated. They argued that "the court refused to view the security camera footage, which would have rendered Leonid's absolute innocence obvious."

On March 4, 2015, a complaint on the arrest was sent to the ECtHR.[23] On May 26, 2015, Alexander Popkov, a lawyer of the human rights organization Agora, said that the Strasbourg Court had registered his complaint; and he received a respective notification of the ECtHR. "The complaint to the ECtHR concerns Martynyuk's unlawful detention and trial, which resulted in his 10-day arrest," the RAPSI quotes Popkov as saying.

Since December 29, 2014 Leonid Martynyuk has been living in New York City[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Leonid Martynyuk, Opposition Author and Video Producer, Arrested in Krasnodar (18-24 August) // The Interpreter Mag, Aug. 24, 2014
  2. 1 2 Leonid Martynyuk's Facebook page
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Winter Olympics in the Sub-Tropics. An independent expert report
  4. ↑ Леонид Мартынюк // Information about L. Martynyuk on the Solidarnost website
  5. ↑ Oxford University must stop selling its reputation to Vladimir Putin’s associates // The Guardian, 3 Nov. 2015
  6. ↑ Жизнь раба на галерах (дворцы, яхты, автомобили, самолеты и другие аксессуары)
  7. ↑ Putin’s Palaces: The Life of A Galley Slave. By Boris Nemtsov and Leonid Martynyuk Russia // UpNorth, August 27, 2015
  8. ↑ For Putin, Report Says, State Perks Pile High // The New York Times, Aug. 27, 2012
  9. ↑ Vladimir Putin 'galley slave' lifestyle: palaces, planes and a $75,000 toilet // The Guardian, 28 Aug. 2012
  10. ↑ Are the Sochi Olympics heading for disaster? // Los Angeles Times, Dec. 30, 2013
  11. ↑ Sochi Olympics a 'monstrous scam' - Russian opposition // BBC, 30 May 2013
  12. ↑ Putin. War. An Independent Expert Report // 4freerussia.org, 2015
  13. ↑ The Lies of Putin's Regime
  14. ↑ How did Vladimir Putin afford his £450,000 watch collection worth six times his annual salary? // Daily Mail, 9 June 2012
  15. ↑ Putin's Extravagant $700,000 Watch Collection // ABC News, June 8, 2012
  16. ↑ Russian Railways Sues Lawmaker Over Sochi Corruption Claims // The Moscow Times, 1 June 2014
  17. ↑ Whose Idea Was It to Build a Winter Resort in the Warmest Part of Russia? // The Atlantic, June 17, 2013
  18. ↑ The Tribunal will consider the claim of Railways to Boris Nemtsovs reputation // 2news4.com, 10 Dec. 2014
  19. ↑ РЖД: Доклад Немцова про Олимпиаду навредил репутации компании // Ведомости, 10 октября 2014
  20. ↑ Борис Немцов. Месть за ролик «Кто сбил Боинг» // 24 авг. 2014
  21. ↑ Who Shot Down the Boeing over Donbass?
  22. ↑ Заявление сопредседателей РПР-ПАРНАС в связи с арестом Леонида Мартынюка: Это месть режима и попытка запугать оппозицию // РПР-ПАРНАС, 26 авг. 2014
  23. ↑ ECtHR accepts complaint of Krasnodar activist Martynyuk to consideration // Caucasian Knot, 26 May 2015

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