Russian court convicts a woman for protesting the war in Ukraine in latest crackdown on free speech
Nov 16, 2023, 4:43 AM
Sasha Skochilenko, a 33 year-old artist and musician shows a heart behind bars in the court room as she waits for a hearing in the Vasileostrovsky district court in St. Petersburg, Russia, Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. A court in St Petersburg has to deliver a verdict to a young artist Sasha Skochilenko on charges of spreading "fakes" about the Russian military after she replaced four small price tags in a St. Petersburg supermarket with anti-war slogans. The prosecution asked to sentence her to 8 years in prison. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Russian court on Thursday convicted an artist and musician for replacing supermarket price tags with antiwar slogans and sentenced her to seven years in prison, Russian media reported.
Sasha Skochilenko, 33, has been held in her home city of St. Petersburg since April 2022 on charges of spreading false information about the military.
She was arrested a month after Russia adopted a law effectively criminalizing any public expression about the war in Ukraine that deviates from the Kremlin’s official line. The legislation has been used in a widespread crackdown on opposition politicians, human rights activists and ordinary Russians critical of the Kremlin, with many receiving lengthy prison terms.
