A Russian court sentenced opposition activist Sergey Udaltsov to six years in prison on charges of glorifying terrorism. The verdict stipulated that he should serve his sentence in a penal colony with the highest level of security.
Udaltsov, the leader of the Left Front movement and a known critic of President Vladimir Putin, was arrested last year. According to the independent Russian portal Mediazona, the indictment is based on a text he published on the Internet, in which he expressed support for a group of Russian activists previously accused of forming a terrorist organization.
These activists were sentenced to prison terms of 16 to 22 years this month. During the trial, Udaltsov rejected all the accusations, calling them fabricated. After the sentencing, he described it as “shameful” and announced that he was starting a hunger strike, reports Mediazona.
Sergey Udalitsov was one of the more prominent figures of the opposition during the mass protests in Russia in 2011 and 2012, which erupted after allegations of electoral irregularities in parliamentary elections. In February 2012, he also attended a meeting of opposition leaders with then-President Dmitry Medvedev.
The Russian authorities, especially after the start of the war in Ukraine, significantly increased the pressure on the opposition, independent media and civil society organizations. Among others, human rights activists, the LGBT+ community and certain religious groups were targeted. According to available data, hundreds of people have been imprisoned, while thousands have left the country.
In December 2023, a Moscow court sentenced Udaltsov to 40 hours of community service for violating regulations on public gatherings, after he was detained in Red Square while attempting to unfurl a flag bearing the image of Joseph Stalin.
Udaltsov has been in prison before – in 2014 he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for his role in organizing anti-Putin protests. He was released in 2017.
(Vijesti.ba)
