On Thursday, a Russian court sentenced a lawyer who represented critics of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine to seven years in prison.
According to the court, he spread false information about the Russian army and incited hatred. TASR reports according to the Reuters and AP agencies.
The prosecutor’s office demanded a 12-year sentence for 63-year-old Dmitry Talantov for posts on the social network Facebook in which he condemned the actions of Russian soldiers in Ukraine. Talantov denied the accusations.
On Wednesday, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, called for the release of the lawyer. “Talantov must be immediately released and freed from any criminal responsibility, because acts such as expressing a non-violent opinion or peaceful opposition to war are protected by international law,” she said.
Spreading false information about the Russian military has been a criminal offense since March 2022. The Russian parliament has responded to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine with a series of laws punishing public statements about the war that deviate from the Kremlin’s official line.
According to the Russian human rights group OVD-Info, the authorities have already charged more than 1,000 people critical of the war under the new paragraphs.
