Russia sentences activist to penal colony for anti-war notes on price tags
A Russian court has sentenced a pacifist artist to seven years in prison for leaving price tags with small anti-war messages in a supermarket. The latest example of the Kremlin’s determination to root out opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The artist, Aleksandra Y. Skochilenko, 33, was found guilty Thursday of spreading false information about the Russian military — a criminal offense introduced shortly after Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine last year — because she posted the messages in her local supermarket had placed in St. Petersburg. Petersburg.
One of the price tags, part of a broader online anti-war campaign by a rights group, read: “4,300 Russian soldiers died in the first days of the war. Why were television networks silent about it?” Another stated: “The Russian army bombed an art school in Mariupol, where about 400 people were sheltering from shelling.”
Since Ms. Skochilenko’s arrest in April 2022, her case has become one of the most prominent examples of the government’s crackdown on dissent. Her seven-year prison sentence underlines the high costs of any form of anti-war activity in Russia.
Standing in a courtroom cell Thursday in a brightly colored oversized shirt, Ms. Skochilenko said that by prosecuting her, the state was drawing more attention to her anti-war message.
“Wars don’t end because of warriors – they end at the instigation of pacifists,” she told the courtroom. a recording posted by her supporters on the social messaging app Telegram. “Putting pacifists in jail only makes the long-awaited day of peace even further away.”
Dmitri G. Gerasimov, lawyer for Ms. Skochilenko, told Sota Vision, a Russian news channel, that the verdict would be appealed. “Seven years for a young woman who suffers from a number of chronic diseases and has never been convicted before is a very harsh sentence,” he said.
Dozens of people came to the court in St. Petersburg to support Ms. Skochilenko. They shouted, “Shame!” and ‘Sasha’, diminutive for Aleksandra, after the judge read her verdict, This is evident from video footage from the courtroom.
The Kremlin has openly stated that the Russian state will not tolerate dissent in times of war. In an interview broadcast Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry S. Peskov said: told 360, a Russian television network that “today is a very difficult military period that requires strong measures from the government.”
“There should be some form of censorship in times of war,” Peskov said.
Some Russians appear to have gotten the message. According to Russian court statistics, the number of administrative charges for “discrediting” the Russian military – which essentially means any criticism of its activities in Ukraine – halved in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period a year ago. years earlier.
Russian lawyers have attributed the decline to the chilling effect of cases like Ms. Skochilenko’s.
Oleg Matsnev reporting contributed.