Russian courts have begun to more often sentence people to real terms for their anti-war stance. The deadlines themselves have also become longer - “Re:Russia”

In Russia, repression against people who take an anti-war position has intensified. From the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023, the courts began to more often sentence to real terms of imprisonment, and the terms themselves increased, according to the Re: Russia project.

During the first nine months of the war, from March to November, the courts handed down 59 sentences under "anti-war articles", in 20 cases the defendants received real terms of imprisonment. Over the past four months, from December to March, 65 sentences have already been handed down, 27 of them with real terms, which are getting longer. According to the Re:Russia project, the intensity of repression on these indicators has doubled, and the share of real terms in sentences is 40%.

In March 2023 alone, 37 criminal cases were initiated against people with an anti-war position, and in total by the end of March their number had grown to 487. According to the Re:Russia project, in recent months there have been about one criminal case per day. In addition to the articles on “discredit” and “fakes”, in March, for the first time, a criminal case was initiated for “incitement to treason” (Article 275 of the Criminal Code). It was filed against an activist of the I/We Furgal movement from Khabarovsk because of the alleged funding of the Ukrainian army.

There were even more administrative cases on "discredit" in March - about 450. In total, since the introduction of the corresponding article in the Code of Administrative Offenses, 6296 cases have been initiated.

Extra-judicial pressure remains one of the ways to influence activists and people with an anti-war position. OVD-Info monitoring records 328 such cases from February 24, 2023 to March 23, of which 130 are harassment at work, 42 ​​are event cancellations, and 31 are threats. Within a month, more than 800 people became victims of repression and pressure in connection with their anti-war position, according to OVD-Info estimates.

Source: "Re: Russia" , "OVD-Info"

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