Russian dissident jailed for social media post has 16-year sentence upheld on appeal

A court has upheld on appeal the 16-year sentence handed down to 67-year-old Russian dissident Alexander Skobov in March on terrorism charges, independent media outlet Mediazona reported on Monday.

Skobov was sentenced to 16 years in prison and fined 300,000 rubles (€3,300) in March for a social media post he wrote in August 2023 in which he called for missile strikes against Russia, adding a list of targets, including the Crimean Bridge and the Black Sea Fleet.

He was found guilty of “justifying terrorism” and “involvement with a terrorist community”, though he was given a slightly more lenient sentence than the 18 year one requested by the Prosecutor’s Office.

Serving the first three years of his sentence in prison and the rest in a maximum-security correctional colony, Skobov attended court via video from detention in Syktyvkar and refused to answer the panel of judges’ questions, announcing “I don’t recognise your court!”

Skobov also refused to give a closing address in court, but did say “Death to Putin, the murderer and bastard, death to the Russian-fascist invaders! Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!”, according to Mediazona.

A well known Soviet-era dissident, Skobov was twice confined to a psychiatric hospital for his pro-democracy activism under communism, a common fate for political dissidents at the time.

An outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin and his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Skobov refused to leave Russia when he was declared a “foreign agent” in March 2024, and was arrested the following month. Since his detention, his general health, and his eyesight in particular, have deteriorated significantly, and his family and supporters have warned that a long custodial term would effectively be a death sentence.