A Russian court handed Alexei Gorinov, a Kremlin critic already serving a seven-year sentence, an additional three-year prison term on Friday. This conviction stems from his opposition to the war in Ukraine.
The three-day trial underscored Russia’s continued suppression of dissent.
Gorinov, 63, a former Moscow municipal council member, had his original sentence for publicly criticizing the invasion upheld.
A court in Vladimir region ordered Gorinov to serve a cumulative five-year sentence in a maximum-security prison. His lawyer, quoted by Mediazona, stated this adds a year to his initial term.
Gorinov’s initial seven-year sentence, handed down in July 2022 by a Moscow court, was for “spreading false information” about the Russian army. This followed his expression of skepticism about a children’s art competition, noting that Ukrainian children were dying daily.
His conviction was based on a 2022 law prohibiting public statements deviating from the Kremlin’s narrative on the war.
In March 2023, Gorinov told the Associated Press that authorities sought to make an example of him, an ordinary citizen rather than a prominent figure.
Authorities initiated a second case against Gorinov last year, alleging he “justified terrorism” in discussions with fellow inmates regarding the Azov battalion (designated a terrorist organization by Russia) and the Crimean bridge explosion.
Gorinov denied these accusations, stating to Mediazona that he only affirmed Crimea’s Ukrainian status and referred to Azov as part of the Ukrainian armed forces.
His trial, held in the Vladimir region where he’s imprisoned, featured photos from Mediazona showing Gorinov in a defendant’s cage with a hand-drawn peace symbol obscuring his prison badge and a placard reading: “Stop killing. Let’s stop the war.”
In his closing statement, Gorinov acknowledged his guilt for failing to prevent the war but called for shared responsibility with the war’s organizers, participants, supporters, and those persecuting peace advocates. He expressed hope for future accountability and asked for forgiveness from Ukrainians and fellow Russians affected by the conflict.
According to OVD-Info, a human rights group tracking political arrests, approximately 1,100 individuals face criminal charges for their anti-war stance since February 2022, with nearly 350 imprisoned or involuntarily committed to medical facilities.