Russian politician imprisoned for 11 years for anti-war social media posts
Lev Shlosberg, the deputy leader of a Russian anti-war political party was convicted of spreading disinformation about the war and of “discrediting” the Russian Army
A Russian politician known for his opposition to the war in Ukraine has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for his anti-war social media posts.
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Lev Shlosberg, the 63-year-old deputy leader of a Russian anti-war political party, Yabloko, was convicted of spreading disinformation about the war and of “discrediting” the Russian Army by a court in Pskov.
The Supreme Court also confirmed a ban on Yabloko's participation in Russia’s parliamentary elections next month.
The charges against Shlosberg originate from his sharing of a Daily Mirror headline from 2022, which depicted an injured Ukrainian woman, writing: “Her blood … his hands”, next to a picture of President Putin.
The Kremlin has consistently maintained that it does not target civilians in Ukraine, despite significant evidence to the contrary.
In 2022, Moscow even went as far as making it a criminal offence to accuse the military of doing so - a law which was passed after Shlosberg’s social media post.
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Eight members of Yabloko have already been put behind bars for their opposition to the war.
Another deputy leader, Maksim Kruglov, was jailed for seven years over social media posts about civilian fatalities in June.
Before sentencing, Shlosberg said on Friday: “The very concept of a crime, understood as an act that poses a genuine danger to society, has been distorted in this country. Under these new laws, crimes now include the free expression of peaceful convictions, standing up for human dignity, protesting against violence, refusing to accept lies, and showing compassion, empathy and mercy towards others.
“Virtue is persecuted, while vice is encouraged and exalted," he added.
The banning of Yabloko from the elections came just a few days after the party had unexpectedly been allowed onto the ballot by the pro-Putin election committee.
The ban came following a complaint by pro-war political party Rodina, which labelled Yabloko’s stance on Ukraine as “extremism”.
The campaign slogan Yabloko used was “For peace and freedom! For a life without fear!”
The ban is broadly believed to have been pushed by Putin, and the parties remaining on the ballot are all pro-war.
Over 60 protestors, including many young people, were arrested by police on Monday outside the court as Yabloko tried, and failed, to appeal his ruling, according to Kirill Goncharov, a senior party member.
Just one in four Russians are in support of the war continuing, according to the Levada Centre, a Russian independent pollster branded as a “foreign agent” by Moscow.
This is not the first time Shlosberg has clashed with Putin loyalists and was attacked in 2014 after looking into the deaths of Russian soldiers who died during a top-secret military operation in Ukraine before the war officially began.