Russian poet sentenced to 7 years in prison for reciting verses against war in Ukraine
Between late February 2022 and earlier this month, 19,847 people have been detained in Russia for speaking out or protesting against the war, according to a rights group.
A Russian poet, Artyom Kamardin, received a 7-year prison sentence for reciting anti-war verses during a street performance in Moscow, in September 2022.
Moscow’s Tverskoi District Court convicted Kamardin on charges of making calls undermining national security and inciting hatred.
Yegor Shtovba, who participated in the event and recited Kamardin’s verses, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years on the same charges.
Kamardin had told the court he did not know his actions broke the law and asked for mercy.
“I am not a hero, and going to prison for my beliefs was never in my plans,” he said in a statement, posted on his supporters’ Telegram channel.
The gathering next to the monument to poet Vladimir Mayakovsky was held days after President Vladimir Putin ordered a mobilization of 300,000 reservists amid Moscow’s military setbacks in Ukraine.
The widely unpopular move prompted hundreds of thousands to flee Russia to avoid being recruited into the military.
Police swiftly dispersed the performance and soon arrested Kamardin and several other participants.
Russian media quoted Kamardin’s friends and his lawyer as saying that police beat and raped him during the arrest. Soon after, he was shown apologizing for his action in a police video released by pro-Kremlin media, his face bruised.
Authorities have taken no action to investigate the alleged abuse by police.
During Thursday’s hearing, Kamardin’s wife, Alexandra Popova, was escorted out of the courtroom by bailiffs after she shouted “Shame!” following the verdict. Popova and others were later detained for an unsanctioned “rally” outside the court building.
Between late February 2022 and earlier this month, 19,847 people have been detained in Russia for speaking out or protesting against the war while 794 people have been implicated in criminal cases over their anti-war stance, according to the OVD-Info rights group, which tracks political arrests and provides legal assistance.
The crackdown has been carried out under a law Moscow adopted days after sending troops to Ukraine that effectively criminalized any public expression about the war deviating from the official narrative.
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