Alexei “Socrates” Sutuga, 1986-2020

via The Russian Reader

Alexei Sutuga, a former political prisoner and one of the most distinguished activists of the antifa movement, better known in Moscow by the pseudonym Socrates, died on the morning of September 1, 2020, at the Sklifosovsky Institute of Emergency Medicine in Moscow.

Since the Saturday before last, Alexei had been in a coma after suffering severe head injuries during a nighttime criminal assault in the vicinity of the Baumanskaya subway station in Moscow. His relatives and friends had been raising money for his treatment all this time. Now I guess we’ll have to raise money to support his mom.

You see, I started this text according to all the rules of news journalism. But actually I’m crying my eyes out.

Socrates was one of those rare people, strikingly intelligent and sensitive, who, it seems, you do not expect to encounter in the radical (anti)political and countercultural movement. Among people who need to think quickly and act quickly, as in war, how often you meet a poetic soul, a person who is ready to listen carefully, think over what others have said, respond to someone else’s pain and, more generally, to the particulars of another person’s state or condition? Socrates was that kind of person.

I will probably be updating this text, adding details, like bank account numbers, if necessary. Now I can’t even figure out exactly how old he was… Thirty-something. He was a big, strong, reliable, kindhearted guy from Siberia, an anti-fascist, an anarchist, a real hero of the working class who knew how to list, think, make decisions, and act.

He was.

Alexei Sutuga, born January 24, 1986, Irkutsk, died September 1, 2020, Moscow.

I’m sorry we didn’t save him.

Photo courtesy of Alexander Chernykh, who reminds his readers that Alexei Sutuga’s book Socrates: The Prison Dialogues (in Russian) is available for free download. If you would like to help the Sutuga family pay for his funeral and outstanding medical costs, you can send money via PayPal to his mother, Olga Nikolayevna, at https://www.paypal.me/sutugaolga. Translated by the Russian Reader

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from https://avtonom.org/en/news/our-comrade-alexey-has-passed-away

Our comrade Alexey has passed away
September 2, 2020

On the morning of September 1st, 34-year-old anarchist Alexey ”Socrates” Sutuga died, due to severe head injuries, in the intensive care unit of the Sklifosovsky Institute. For more than a week, doctors fought for his life, but the injuries were too serious.

Alexey died after a fight near a grocery store on August 23 near the Baumanskaya metro station in the center of Moscow. The circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear. Four people, who apparently took part in the beating of Alexey, have been detained. In the criminal case, the Sutuga family is represented by a famous lawyer, and we hope that thanks to her, we will find out all the details of that night. So far, there is no reason to believe that there was any political motivation behind the attack.

Alexey Sutuga took part in creating Autonomous Action since the early 2000s. At first in the local group in Irkutsk, and later in Moscow, where he was also an active member. He took part in many different anarchist initiatives. It is impossible to list all of them here.

Anti-fascism was always one of his main priorities. He was jailed twice after fights with Nazis who went snitching to the police when they were on the loosing side. Last time they literally told their friends in uniform that they were attacked by "the same terrible Socrates whose photos are on the Internet."

Alexey was involved in various creative projects: he was the frontman of the Oi! -Punk group Working Boys, took part in the performances of Teatr.doc theatre, and last May his prison memoir ”Dialogues about prison” was published in Russian.

In the last years of his life, Alexei lived in Moscow, working in construction, repair and as a scaffolder. Anti-fascism remained important to him: he hosted the Antifa Jokes telegram channel and was still occasionally fighting the ultra-right in the streets.

Alexey also participated in the publication of the Avtonom magazine, in organizing the journal's lecture series, and also joined anarchist street actions.

His son entered third grade this autumn.

-Autonomous Action

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