Russian Protesters Imprisoned Over Anti-War Poetry

0:00

/1861

1×

Facts

• A Moscow court on Thursday sentenced two protesters to prison for reciting poetry against the Ukraine war and attending a protest in a city square. Artyom Kamardin, 33, was sentenced to seven years for reciting the poem, with Yegor Shtovba, 23, given 5.5 years for attending the protest.¹
• Both men were convicted of 'undermining national security' and 'inciting hatred' for their role in the September 2022 demonstration against Putin's mobilization of 300K reserve troops. During the protest, Kamardin read 'Kill me, militia man!'²
• Kamardin's wife, Alexandra Popova, said police stormed their apartment the day after the protest, 'dragged me across the floor by my hair and started supergluing stickers to my face,' and 'threatened to glue my mouth up.' She also said she heard police beating Kamardin in the other room — she and Kamdarin's lawyer also described allegations of sexual abuse.³
• During the court hearing, Popova shouted 'Shame!' after the sentence was announced, after which she was removed from the room by bailiffs. She spoke with journalists afterward and was arrested alongside several others for holding an unauthorized 'rally' outside the court building.⁴
• Mayakovsky Readings, named after Mayakovsky Square in Moscow, have been held periodically since 1958 where people would recite anti-Soviet Union poems around the statue of poet Vladimir Mayakovsky. The demonstrations were revived in 2009 but have been suspended since October 2022 due to a crackdown on dissent.³
• According to the rights group OVD-Info, 19,834 residents of Russia were arrested for opposing the war between February 2022 and October 2023.²

Sources: ¹Guardian, ²Al Jazeera, ³BBC News and ⁴Associated Press.

Narratives

• Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by Amnesty International. Russia, especially during the war, has continued to ignore the right to free expression and protest. Tens of thousands of street protesters have been detained, fined, or imprisoned due to their opposition to troop mobilization against Ukraine. Those not sent to jail are still branded as spies or traitors, thus ruining their public reputation and limiting their access to employment. The Russian people are against Putin's invasion, which is why he is dangerously resorting to criminalizing dissent.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by RT International. The West has no leg to stand on regarding freedom of expression. For example, the US regime has used the exact same tactics against its political opponents regarding the Jan. 6 Capitol protests. After left-wing activists friendly to Washington stormed federal buildings and injured officers, there were few legal consequences. But when hundreds of Trump fans waved flags at the Capitol, they were labeled 'domestic terrorists,' kept in solitary confinement without trial, and physically abused by jail guards. US-backed hegemony should not throw stones when it comes to freedom of expression.

Predictions