Russia: Prison for opposition leader over war criticism

Lev Shlosberg, a senior member of Russia's liberal opposition party Yabloko, was pronounced guilty of "public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation" and sentenced to 11 years and 1 month in a penal colony by a court in Pskov on Monday.

Shlosberg has described the war as a catastrophe for Russia. The Kremlin says he is spreading slanderous lies about the army.

Making his closing statement before the verdict and sentence were read on Monday, Shlosberg maintained his innocence, saying he was the victim of a political trial.

On August 10, Russia's Supreme Court banned Yabloko — the only registered political party calling for an end to Russia's invasion of Ukraine — from participating in upcoming parliamentary elections. The decision was upheld on Monday.

What did Shlosberg say about Russia's war in Ukraine?

During his closing statement, Shlosberg repeated his call for an immediate ceasefire in the four-and-a-half-year war in neighboring Ukraine.

"The lives of countless thousands of people have been cut short during this time. Sooner or later, the precise and complete death toll — with names included — will be made public, and the entire nation will shudder at this list of martyrs," he said, according to ‌a transcript.

BBC's Russia Service and the independent Russian media outlet Mediazona say they have counted the names of more than 239,354 fallen Russian soldiers via public records.

However, when they factored in death certificates and estate information to arrive at excess mortality numbers they topped 350,000.

Russia does not publish casualty figures.

Russian opposition leads first major anti-war march abroad

Kremlin and courts snuffing out all public opposition to war

Public criticism of the war, which the Kremlin says is not a war but rather a "special military operation," is practically non-existent inside Russia as a result of draconian laws stifling speech related to it.

In the wake of the February 24, 2022, invasion, Russia's parliament passed laws to punish anyone found guilty of "discrediting" the army or deliberately "spreading false information" about the operation with long jail sentences.

Shlosberg was arrested last year on charges that he had "discredited" the military during a video debate, referring to the war in Ukraine as a "bloody game of chess."

The charge of spreading fake news about the war was added after he reposted the video on Telegram.

"A single person is imprisoned, yet fear seeps into the hearts of millions," said Shlosberg in his closing remarks.

Shlosberg is the second person from his party to feel the heel of state justice of late. In June, deputy Yabloko party leader, Maxim Kruglov, was sentenced to seven years in prison "for spreading lies about Russia's military."

What Yabloko's election ban says about Russia today

Edited by: Rana Taha

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