Convicted for the Courage of His Convictions

"[In March the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention [UNWGAD] concluded that Alexei Gorinov's deprivation of liberty is] arbitrary, [a violation of Russia's obligations under international human rights law, calling on Russia to release him] immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law."

"[Deep concern has been expressed by the UN Human Rights Committee respecting legal amendments under Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code and called on the Russian Federation to] repeal all legislation unduly restricting freedom of expression".

Bill Browder, head, Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign

Gorinov held up a note in court stating: "Do you still need this war?"   KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP

Moscow city councillor Alexei Gorinov currently serving a seven-year sentence in one of Russia's notorious prison camps known for torture and inhumane treatment of its inmates has been placed in his position of incarceration for the "crime" of critiquing the impacts of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, calling for its end. The kind of expression of moral thought protected by Russian law as well as its international human rights obligations.

 

Mr. Gorinov, 62, a lawyer, opposition politician and human rights activist, was arrested in April of 2022 for having publicly expressed his concerns surrounding the Moscow council's plan to mount a children's art competition in the Russian capital, at the very time that Ukrainian children were being killed by Russian invading military forces. Such an event, he said, would present as "a feast in time of plague"; proposing instead to honour young Ukrainian victims with a minute of silence.

This resulted three months later in a Moscow court convicting him on a charge of disseminating "knowingly false information" insulting to Russian Armed Forces under Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code. After a year of imprisonment, Mr. Gorinov began suffering from long-lasting bronchitis, has been denied access to adequate medical care, is perpetually deprived of sleep, guards checking on him in two-hour intervals, night-time included. He has just passed his second birthday in arbitrary detention. 

 

Gorinov was arrested several weeks after addressing the council meeting in mid-March  NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP

 

Mr Gorinov has the distinction of having received the first prison sentence under Vladimir Putin's new legislation whose aim was to suppress opposition to the war he has imposed on Ukraine. Many other offenders have followed in his footsteps to be incarcerated for their sin of protest against an act of national and international criminality. Some 114 people have now received such draconian sentences under these laws, according to Russia's leading human rights watchdog.

The systemic crackdown on the antiwar movement has brought over 20,000 to a position of being detained for peaceful antiwar protests; over 600 Russian citizens are facing criminal prosecution based on their antiwar activism, vexing the Kremlin no end. Prominent pro-democracy and human rights activists including Vladimir Kara-Murza, as well as Nobel Laureate "Memorial" leader Oleg Orlov. Everyday Russian citizens such as Alexei Moskalev, imprisoned after his 13-year-old daughter created an antiwar painting in her art class, has joined them in prison detention.

The fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin harbours is that his own population will rise against his invasion of neighbouring Ukraine; a well-founded fear, since many ordinary Russians have, and continue to risk their freedom and their lives by advocating for human rights and democracy. Western nations empowering Russian champions of human rights and democracy are at the same time countering Moscow's aggression in Ukraine, a pernicious assault on rules-based international order.

Police officers detain a man holding a poster that reads "no war" during an unsanctioned protest on March,13,2022 at Manezhnaya Square in front of the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia.  2022 Contributor/Getty Images