A Russian lawyer has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for speaking out against the war in Ukraine on social media
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) – A Russian court on Thursday sentenced a prominent lawyer to seven years in prison for speaking out against the war in Ukraine on social media, a Russian human rights group reported.
The verdict in the case of Dmitry Talantov, former chairman of the Russian regional bar association, Udmurtia republic, is the latest in the Kremlin’s relentless crackdown on dissidents after sending troops to Ukraine in February 2022. Talantov is one of many. of Russians detained under a law adopted more than a week after the attack that bans any public expression of the war deviating from the official narrative.
OVD-Info, a Russian rights organization that tracks political arrests and provides legal aid, reported on Thursday that Talantov was accused of inciting hatred and “spreading false information” about the army – something that would have become a criminal offense under the 2022 law – for several social media sites, where he criticized there is the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The lawyer, 63, was arrested in June 2022 and has spent more than two years in prison.
Trusted and exciting news every day, right in your inbox
See for yourself — Yodel is your go-to source for daily news, entertainment and exciting news.
He dismissed the charges against him, and OVD-Info quoted him as saying in his letter that he was imprisoned: “I once looked at a photo of a disabled Ukrainian woman and decided that I could no longer remain silent. But I continued to be a lawyer. I have published my opinion in a way that does not violate the law. And you know what? It is not my problem that a normal act is considered a crime by a person.”
On Thursday, a court in the town of Zavyalovo in Udmurtia, a region 900 kilometers (about 560 miles) east of Moscow, found Talantov guilty and sentenced him to seven years in prison, OVD-Info reported.
According to the group’s data, about 1,100 people were involved in criminal cases because of their anti-war status as of February 2022. 340 of them are currently in prison or committed to medical facilities.
Before his arrest, Talantov was the long-time chairman of the Chamber of Lawyers of Udmurtia. He was also part of the team that defended former journalist Ivan Safronov, who was accused of treason in a case widely seen as retaliation for his reporting on military incidents and unexpected arms deals. Safronov was convicted in September 2022 and sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Source link
