The repression of dissenting voices in Russia continues unabated as the year draws to a close. According to the Russian NGO OVD-Info, nearly 20,000 Russians have been arrested since the start of the conflict in Ukraine for protesting against Kremlin policies. And 783 individuals became defendants on the ANTI-WAR case by the end of November 2023
The latest victims: two poets who took part in a reading against the war in Ukraine, sentenced on December 28, 2023 by a Moscow court to five-and-a-half and seven-year prison terms. The two men were convicted of inciting hatred towards members of armed groups in the Donbass region and “public calls to commit activities against state security”.
In September 2022, a criminal case was opened against Artem Kamardin, Yegor Shtovba and Nikolai Daineko, three participants in a public poetry reading in Moscow, near the statue of the poet Mayakovsky, a traditional gathering place for government opponents and dissidents since Soviet times.
Kamardin read the poem “Kill me, militiaman”. The investigation found that the poet, with this poem, stirred up hatred towards “participants in hostilities in the LPR and DPR”.
According to the investigators, Kamardin called in verse for “not accepting” summonses from representatives of military registration and enlistment offices, “not signing” documents confirming receipt of summonses and “not appearing” on them.
Shtovbu and Daineko are considered Kamardin’s “accomplices” because they “repeated Kamardin’s work aloud”.
Daineko reached a pre-trial agreement during the investigation. His case was dealt with separately and, in May, he was sentenced to 4 years’ imprisonment in a general regime colony. After appeal, the sentence was confirmed.
Kamardin was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in a general-regime colony under articles on incitement to hatred and public calls for action against state security. Shtovba was sentenced to five and a half years in a general-regime colony on the same charges.
A dozen people were arrested near the court after the verdict was announced, including journalists and members of a support group.
Artem Kamardin’s wife, Alexandra Popova, was dragged out of the courtroom after shouting “Shame!” Then three other people were arrested as they left the courtroom, including SOTAvision correspondent Evgeniy Kurakin and a RusNews journalist who was later released. A support group published the video shot by Popova while she and the other detainees were in the police van.
Alexandra Popova was finally released from the Krasnoselsky district police department, she reported on the support group’s telegram channel.
According to her, the security forces are considering releasing some of the detainees. Three people were kept overnight for taking part in an unauthorized gathering near the courthouse.
The others arrested at the courthouse were released, but were charged with “violation of assembly procedure”.
RUSSIA, 6 and 4 years in prison for a couple of Jehovah’s Witnesses
