Currently under house arrest at her mother’s apartment in Severodvinsk, near Arkhangelsk in the Russian Far East, Olesya Krivstova could well spend the next few years in prison. In fact, the 19-year-old student is being prosecuted by the authorities for having, according to them, “discredited the Russian army and justified terrorism” on social networks.
The Russian justice accuses this alleged opponent of Vladimir Putin of having said how badly she thought of the invasion of Ukraine in various posts. Her lawyer and her mother were able to tell her situation to the American media CNN.
He faces up to 7 years in prison.
What’s more, if Olesya Krivtsova herself has not been able to trace her history, it is because, in addition to her house arrest, the electronic bracelet that she must permanently wear on her ankle – the other sporting an eloquent tattoo that shows the face of Vladimir Putin in the middle from the body of a spider subtitled “big brother is watching you“(“Big Brother is watching you”) – was also deprived of Internet access.
But, of course, she faces much more: up to three years in prison for her criticism of the military and up to seven years if convicted of terrorism. In any case, these are the measurements given by her lawyer, Alexei Kichin, to CNN. However, the latter does not lose hope and intends to reduce the penalty to the payment of a fine.
61 similar procedures in 2022
More specifically, the institutions accuse him of having published a story on Instagram evoking the explosion of the Crimean bridge following the events of October, adding a denunciation of the war in progress, and of having broadcast a bitter post about the army on the Russian social network VKontakte.
Faced with the susceptibility and authoritarianism of Russian power, her lawyer, Alexei Kichin, observed with CNN: “Olesya’s file is neither the first nor the last.” And the figures established by the association for the defense of human rights OVD-Info prove him right. Its members have identified 61 similar proceedings initiated in 2022 for 26 convictions to date.
Natalya Krivtsova, Olesya’s mother, discussed with the US media: “They are trying to nip what’s left of the protest in the bud.” “The state carries out strange policies: prisoners are sent to the front, children in prison,” she adds.
“Wagner greets you”
Olesya’s mother also described her daughter’s arrest on December 26 in the apartment she shares with her husband, Ilya. The couple was knocked to the ground and then threatened with a bunch of weapons, one of the officers present explaining that it was a “greeting” from the Wagner group. In fact, the choice of this weapon was far from trivial: in a video posted online by the private militia in November, a suspected deserter had been executed with a sledgehammer.
Olseya Krivtsova’s situation is all the more problematic as she has already been the subject of legal proceedings: she was concerned about having distributed anti-war leaflets last May. A precedent that could allow justice to see in her new accusations against the student a case of recidivism.
“He has a high opinion of justice, which complicates his life,” greeted his mother, before posing: “The inability to keep quiet has become a great sin in the Russian Federation these days.”
Source: BFM TV
