A Moscow court sentenced two Russian poets on Thursday to up to seven years in prison for participating in a public reading against the conflict in Ukraine.
The case is seen as a new example of the growing climate of repression in Russia.
The court ruling was met with cries of “Shame!” and protests by followers and relatives of the two poets, identified as Artiom Kamardine and Iegor Shtovba, according to international agencies.
“It is absolute arbitrariness,” said Artiom Kamardine’s father, quoted by the French news agency AFP.
Artiom Kamardin and Iegor Shtovba were arrested in September 2022, after participating in a public reading in Triumfalnaya Square, in Moscow, near the monument to the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, a meeting point for dissidents since the Soviet era.
During the reading, Artiom Kamardine recited a poem, titled “Kill me, militiaman!”, very hostile towards the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The next day, Kamardine was arrested following a raid on his home, during which he claimed police beat him and raped him with a dumbbell.
Initially charged with “incitement to hatred”, the two poets were later charged with “public calls for activities against state security”.
“I am not a hero and going to prison for what I believe was never part of my plans,” said Artiom Kamardine in his final arguments before the court, which were later published by his followers on the Telegram platform.
Kamardine also begged the judge to let him “go home,” promising in return to stay away from any “sensitive matters.”
Russia has been suppressing all voices critical of President Vladimir Putin’s regime in recent years, but the repression campaign increased dramatically with the launch of the military offensive against Ukraine in February 2022.
Source: TSF
