31 Facts About Beness Aijo

Beness Aijo has been active in the National Bolshevik movement since 1998 and has been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned for his political activities in various countries.

Beness Aijo joined the Communist Party of Great Britain during his time in London and participated in many of the party's demonstrations.

In 2014, Beness Aijo travelled to Crimea to support the Russian annexation of the peninsula.

Beness Aijo later participated in pro-Russian demonstrations in the Donbas before being arrested by Ukrainian authorities and deported to Latvia.

Beness Aijo fled Latvia in 2015 despite being under criminal investigation and police surveillance.

Beness Aijo eventually made his way to the Luhansk People's Republic, where he joined The Other Russia's paramilitary group, the Interbrigades.

Beness Aijo later received a passport from the Donetsk People's Republic, which he used to enter Russia in early 2020.

Beness Aijo was born in Rezekne, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union.

Beness Aijo's father is Ugandan and his mother is Russian.

On 7 May 2005, Aijo was arrested for setting off smoke bombs during the visit of George W Bush to Latvia.

Later that year, Beness Aijo was arrested and sentenced to 9 months in prison for calling for the overthrow of Latvia's political system.

In prison, Beness Aijo subsequently went on a hunger strike that lasted for 27 days until his health deteriorated enough to require hospitalisation.

Thereafter, Beness Aijo left Latvia and moved to London in the United Kingdom.

Beness Aijo studied Medical Microbiology at the University of London, Birkbeck.

Later in London, Beness Aijo worked as a construction worker at the Heathrow Terminal 2.

Beness Aijo played an active role in political rallies in the UK, where he was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

On 14 September 2013, in Moscow, Beness Aijo participated in the congress of the political party The Other Russia.

On 19 November 2013, Beness Aijo participated in London in a direct action in memory of Aleksandr Dolmatov.

Beness Aijo was arrested and spent six weeks in a Dutch prison.

Beness Aijo was arrested in Donetsk on 1 April 2014 for "preparation of an armed coup to overthrow the government and to undermine the territorial integrity of Ukraine" and deported to the United Kingdom, where Aijo took part of demonstrations for a couple of weeks.

In May 2014, despite the ban from entering the country for three years, Beness Aijo attempted to cross into Ukraine together with two more activists.

Beness Aijo was detained by the Ukrainian Border Guard, and deported to Latvia, where he was detained by the Security Police and the State Police at Riga Airport.

Beness Aijo made claims he had been tortured and beaten by the Ukrainian National Guard.

In early 2015, with an ongoing criminal case and while being under police surveillance Beness Aijo fled Latvia by hitch-hiking to Tallinn, where he took a ferry to Finland and then traveled to Russia by bus, eventually arriving in Eastern Ukraine.

Beness Aijo later reported taking part in pro-Russian operations in Debaltseve and near Stanytsia Luhanska among other places and being promoted to sergeant, going from a gunner on an artillery howitzer to a member of a motorized infantry brigade.

In early 2020, Beness Aijo entered Russia using a passport from the unrecognised Donetsk People's Republic.

Beness Aijo was later detained in Yarensk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, where Aijo was planning to take part in a protest against the construction of a garbage landfill.

The Latvian Prosecutor General's Office requested his extradition to Latvia, while Beness Aijo asked Vladimir Putin for political asylum in Russia.

Beness Aijo was released from prison in February 2020 and granted political asylum in Russia in October.

Beness Aijo joined the Communist Party of the Russian Federation some time after 2020, according to the party's website.

Beness Aijo was sentenced in absentia to two years and six months in prison, as well as one year of probation.