STORY
Russian opposition politician Lev Shlosberg has been sentenced to 11 years and one month in a penal colony after being convicted over statements and social media activity opposing the war in Ukraine. The Pskov City Court sentenced the 63-year-old deputy chairman of the liberal Yabloko party on 17 August after finding him guilty of repeatedly “discrediting” the Russian armed forces and disseminating what authorities described as deliberately false information about the military.
The charges related to Shlosberg’s participation in an online discussion about the war and his sharing of a social media post featuring a Daily Mirror front page showing Vladimir Putin and an injured Ukrainian woman. Shlosberg denied wrongdoing and described the proceedings as a political trial, while continuing to call for an immediate ceasefire. Amnesty International condemned the prosecution as retaliation for peaceful expression and called on the Russian authorities to release him immediately and overturn his conviction.
The sentence came amid wider pressure on Yabloko, which is the only registered Russian political party openly calling for an end to the war. Russia’s Supreme Court barred the party from taking part in September’s State Duma election on 10 August and rejected its appeal against that decision a week later. Amnesty has also called for an end to the prosecution of Yabloko members and supporters and for Russian legislation criminalising peaceful anti-war expression to be repealed.