It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are public defenders within the ruling system of Russia who have come to the defense of member of the sadistic gang Vyacheslav Tsapkov, whose disclosure of the conditions of his imprisonment in a strict regime colony caused a scandal. In many ways, Tsapkov is spiritually close to these people (and not only spiritually — let’s not forget the direct connections between Tsapka’s gang and members of Russia’s ruling elite), and his only fault is that he got caught. «The guy was on his way to success, but it didn’t work out,» as they say in certain circles. So his motives and behavior are well understood. It’s different with various «separatists» like «Islamists,» «extremists,» and other opposition figures and human rights activists who don’t seem to know what they want — they can’t even take care of themselves and get in the way of others.
Recently, the head of the Public Monitoring Commission (ONK) of the Amur region, Natalya Okhotnikova, spoke out publicly in defense of Tsapkov. According to her, Tsapkov is not a murderer, but a «deputy, patron and hereditary farmer,» and the information about him spread in the media are «disgusting lies.»
What is the ONK? In theory, it is an organization to protect prisoners from the lawlessness of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), which is abundant in Russia and usually targets ordinary people who end up behind bars. Therefore, one could assume that the head of the ONK of the Amur region is guided by these very human rights considerations in defending Tsapkov.
In theory. However, there is a but — as we wrote two years ago, in the fall of 2016, Russian law enforcement agencies managed to completely take control of the ONK’s activities, replacing real human rights defenders who stood in their way with their own people. This was rightly described as the liquidation of public control over the penitentiary system in Russia. Natalya Okhotnikova is, in our opinion, a living example of these changes.
Let’s stick to the facts from Natalya Vladimirovna’s autobiography on the website of the Public Chamber of the Amur Region, where she is also a prominent public figure. She was born in 1982. Of course, «young people have prospects everywhere» (if they are the right kind of young people, as will be explained later), but one cannot help but wonder — is it too early for a person of this age to deal with issues related to the fate of mainly mature individuals? However, anything is possible, and perhaps we are dealing with a person of extraordinary abilities, for whom one year is like two…
Her basic education is from the «Far Eastern Agrarian University. Faculty: Agricultural Mechanization». That’s perfect for a human rights defender. On the other hand, she is versatile — «Amur Regional School of Culture. Faculty: Social and Cultural Activities. Specialization: Pop singing. Creative team leader, teacher». And closer to her appointment as the head of the ONK, Natalya Vladimirovna received a higher legal education — in the same year 2016, when law enforcement agencies took over the ONK.
In this regard, it is worth analyzing the «road to success» of Ms. Okhotnikova. With all due respect to agricultural mechanization, and much less respect to her career in the entertainment industry, it is obvious that her success is not due to them. Obviously, it is not due to her legal education either, even if we assume that it is not fictitious — she is not known as a famous lawyer or author of articles on legal issues.
Therefore, one should look at her «public activities,» especially since they are described in her biography. And it is hardly necessary to burden oneself with the names of numerous courses, seminars and schools in which she participated. It is much more interesting to focus on the starting point of her «public activities», according to her own biography — «volunteer for the Amur public organization ‘Boevoye Bratstvo’ (Fighting Brotherhood)».
How a specialist in agricultural mechanization and a singer and choreographer ended up in an organization for veterans of military actions is a very interesting question. Of course, there is a lack of information about her personal life, such as her family status and connections, so we can only speculate about whom and what she was mechanizing and singing for. But seriously, these are details that have little impact on the essence. The essence is that the current defender of Tsapkov’s rights began her public career in the public wing of the country’s ruling power structures. This is clearly evidenced by the information from the website of this «public organization», which boasts of the regular participation of its members in the events and structures of «United Russia», as well as the support it provides to terrorist formations in the so-called DPR and LPR.
In conclusion, it is obvious that regardless of her merits and reasons for her position, the head of the ONK of the Amur region, as this position has been since 2016, is an obvious creation of Russian law enforcement agencies. While filtering out all «agitators,» extremists, oppositionists, and dissidents, they are preparing their «human rights defenders» and «public observers» from former mechanics and singers (actors, athletes, personal bodyguards, etc.) to become future deputies, ministers, and governors.
In this environment, it is natural that people like Tsapkov arouse deep inner sympathy. He had all the prerequisites to become one of them, as he was currently participating in public commissions, chambers and regional assemblies of this regime. He just had no luck.