The Basmanny District Court of Moscow sentenced former Justice Ministry employee Maria Mamedova in absentia to eight and a half years in a general regime penal colony in a case of military "fakes" motivated by political hostility (clause "d" of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by Mediazona.
In October 2023, Maria and her husband Denis were arrested in absentia under the article on dissemination of military "fakes" motivated by political hatred. On April 12, Deniswas sentenced in absentia to eight and a half years in prison in this case.
The case of "fake news" against the couple was opened because of an anti-war mailing that the spouses sent to the email addresses of their colleagues at the forensic center. It is unknown what caused the criminal case of aiding terrorism.
Earlier, the 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced Mamedova in absentia to 14 years in prison for aiding terrorism (Part 1 of Article 205.1 of the Criminal Code). Mamedova was also fined 600 thousand rubles.
Maria and Denis Mamedov left for the United States back in 2022. After leaving Russia, they began sending complaints to Russian government agencies demanding that the war be stopped and actively writing about their position on social networks. Their pages on VKontakte and Odnoklassniki were blocked.
- After the war in Ukraine began, the Russian authorities began to react sharply to protest sentiments. The list of articles under which those speaking out against the war are prosecuted is quite broad. The defendants in “anti-war cases” are often charged with hooliganism, vandalism, violence against government officials, and other violations. Articles introduced into the Criminal Code after the start of military operations also became a significant element of pressure: the dissemination of “fakes” about the Russian army and discrediting the armed forces.
- At the moment, more than 950 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protests against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our infographic .