Seven years in prison camp for Russian anti-war activist
The Russian anti-war activist and artist Alexandra Skochilenko has been sentenced to seven years in prison by a court in her home city of St. Petersburg.
The 33-year-old, who had replaced price tags in a grocery store with slogans against the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, had to answer for spreading alleged false information about Moscow's army. The musician and poet was arrested after the action in April 2022 and has been in custody ever since. She has always denied the accusations.
Her case also caused international outrage because she remained in custody despite being seriously ill. The public prosecutor's office had requested eight years in prison, with a maximum sentence of ten years. Skochilenko has been classified as a political prisoner by the human rights organizations Amnesty International and Memorial.
Her partner in particular had repeatedly drawn attention to the fate of the politically persecuted artist. In one of her letters from prison, Skochilenko wrote: "As it turns out, I embody everything that is intolerable for Putin's regime: creativity, pacifism, LGBT, psychological enlightenment, feminism, humanism and love for everything bright, ambiguous and unusual."
The international human rights organizations Amnesty International and Memorial have classified Alexandra Skochilenko as a political prisoner due to her activism against the Russian war. The Russian court's seven-year judgment against Skochilenko for alleged false information is widely seen as a violation of her human rights as an activist.
Source: www.dpa.com
