TALLINN, Estonia — Alexei Gorinov, a well-known Russian critic of the Kremlin, faced a court hearing on Wednesday related to his opposition to Russia’s ongoing military actions in Ukraine, as reported by an independent media outlet.
This new court case against the 63-year-old Gorinov, who is a former member of a Moscow municipal council and is currently dealing with a chronic lung illness, marks yet another instance of the relentless repression against dissenters that has intensified since Russia launched its military offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.
Gorinov is already serving a prison sentence resulting from his public opposition to the full-scale invasion; notably, he was the first individual in Russia to be imprisoned under a controversial law that prohibits any public expressions regarding the war that contradict the government’s official stance.
In July 2022, Gorinov was sentenced to a seven-year prison term for “spreading false information” about the Russian military during a local council meeting, where he criticized a children’s art competition by highlighting the ongoing casualties of children in Ukraine.
Further allegations were brought against him last year, according to his supporters. He is now accused of “justifying terrorism” based on discussions with fellow inmates regarding Ukraine’s Azov battalion, which Russia has labeled as a terrorist entity, and the 2022 attack on the Crimean bridge, which the Russian government has also classified as terrorism.
During Wednesday’s court proceedings, Gorinov strongly denied these charges, as reported by Mediazona. He stated in front of the court that he merely expressed the view that the annexed Crimean Peninsula is Ukrainian territory and referred to Azov as part of the Ukrainian military.
“I am far from the ideology of terrorism,” Gorinov asserted, reinforcing his claim by stating, “nothing else has been proven during the investigation; there is just some kind of rubbish written (in the indictment).”
The trial took place in the Vladimir region, where Gorinov is currently incarcerated. Photographs from the courtroom showed a fatigued Gorinov in a defendant cage, holding a handwritten sign that read: “Stop killing. Let’s stop the war.” Prior to his imprisonment, he had undergone lung surgery and continues to battle respiratory issues while incarcerated.
Gorinov’s arrest, trial, and imprisonment, despite him being a relatively low-key activist, have surprised and distressed many observers. In written remarks from prison in March 2023, he indicated that “authorities needed an example they could showcase to others (of) an ordinary person, rather than a public figure.”
As reported by OVD-Info, a notable human rights organization monitoring political arrests, around 1,100 individuals have faced legal actions for their anti-war beliefs since the onset of the conflict in February 2022. Currently, 340 of those are either in custody or have been involuntarily placed in medical facilities.