Russian opponent Alexeï Gorinov, sentenced in 2022 to seven years in prison for criticizing the Russian assault on Ukraine, appeared on Wednesday as part of a new trial for “apology of terrorism”.
This Moscow municipal deputy was the first person convicted of “spreading false information” concerning the Russian army, under an article of the criminal code that came into force a few weeks after the attack on Ukraine in February 2022. It has since been used by the authorities to silence any criticism of the conflict.
Mr. Gorinov was tried on Wednesday by a military court in Vladimir, 100 kilometers east of Moscow in this new case. In the dock, he held up a sign with the words “Stop killing! Let’s stop the war!”, according to images published by the independent media Mediazona (classified as a “foreign agent” by the authorities), which covers the repression in Russia.
“This case is part of a unique process of persecution of citizens who express their opinions,” he declared in court, according to this media.
The opponent is this time accused of having “justified terrorism” during his conversations with fellow prisoners, in a prison hospital, where he was being treated for pneumonia in January 2023. Aged 63, he risks five years additional detention.
One of his ex-detainees, Pavel Britikov, 42, assured the court that Mr. Gorinov “supported Ukraine more than his own country” during his conversations at the hospital.
According to another witness, Nikolai Medvedev, interviewed from his penal colony by videoconference, Alexeï Gorinov notably denounced the “lies” of state television on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Alexei Gorinov had already been sentenced in July 2022 after denouncing “the ongoing military aggression in Ukraine” during a municipal meeting on March 15, broadcast on YouTube.
Russia’s ongoing crackdown has thrown hundreds, if not thousands, of people into prison for their opposition to Russia’s assault on Ukraine. People regularly receive very heavy sentences for “treason”, “sabotage” or “extremism”.
The main figures of the Russian opposition are in prison or in exile abroad, the movement having lost its figurehead, Alexeï Navalny, in February, who died in detention in murky circumstances.
