Jailed Russian political prisoner declared ‘likely to commit arson’ in fresh blow from prison staff

Alexey Gorinov, a Moscow politician jailed for criticising the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has been deemed “likely to commit arson” by prison staff in what his supporters believe is an attempt to further worsen his conditions in detention, his support group wrote on Wednesday.

Gorinov, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2022 for criticising a children’s drawing competition as inappropriate during wartime and calling for a minute’s silence for victims of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is currently held in “total isolation” after returning from hospital, his supporters said.

Despite making every effort to obey all rules and avoid punitive measures, Gorinov has served numerous consecutive terms in a punishment cell for arbitrary reasons, such as failing to “keep his hands behind his back while outside his cell”.

He was placed in a high-security cell with marginally more comfortable conditions in September after repeated complaints, his supporters added, where “it is at least warm and there are no mice”, but noted that his conditions may worsen after being designated “likely to commit arson”.

“Alexey is keen to emphasise that he does not smoke and does not have access to matches,” his supporters wrote. “If anything happens to him, he has not set fire to anything and he has no plans to do so,” they added.

Gorinov, who suffers from both tuberculosis and acute bronchitis, had three years added to his sentence in November for pro-Ukrainian comments secretly recorded by his cellmates.

In September, Gorinov and fellow political prisoner Azat Miftakhov filed a complaint over what they claim was their unlawful prosecution and imprisonment with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.