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June-2021: Purges of the opposition, Hizb ut-Tahrir, the “palace case”

Details: Human Rights

June-2021: Purges of the opposition, Hizb ut-Tahrir, the “palace case”

Details: 08 July 2021; Diana Fishman

In June, the Russian authorities focused on purging the political space ahead of the September elections: Criminal cases were opened against oppositionists Maxim Reznik, Ketevan Kharaidze, and Dmitry Gudkov. New guilty verdicts were given to participants in the January protests in support of Navalny and against the arbitrariness of the authorities. Persecution of Muslims associated with the Hizb ut-Tahrir party—an organization recognized as terrorist in Russia—continued in the regions.

May 2021: Activists of the Perpetual Protest, Nikolai Platoshkin, Daria Polyudova

Details: Human Rights

May 2021: Activists of the Perpetual Protest, Nikolai Platoshkin, Daria Polyudova

Details: 06 June 2021; Diana Fishman

In May, the Russian state continued to put pressure on civil society activists, as several cases against them ended in guilty verdicts on trumped-up charges. The Perpetual Protest activists Olga Missik, Ivan Vorobyevsky, and Igor Basharimov were convicted of vandalism; the opposition politician Nikolai Platoshkin of inciting mass riots and spreading false information about the coronavirus; and the Left Resistance movement leader Daria Polyudova of public justification of terrorism.

April 2021: Navalny’s team, IStories and DOXA, Ivan Pavlov and new treason cases

Details: Human Rights

April 2021: Navalny’s team, IStories and DOXA, Ivan Pavlov and new treason cases

Details: 03 May 2021; Diana Fishman

April has been the busiest month this year in terms of the volume and severity of political persecution in Russia. The Kremlin launched a procedural attack to recognize opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s organizations as extremist, leading to their decision to dissolve. Searches took place at the offices and homes of the editor-in-chief of the investigative project IStories and the editorial team of the independent student magazine DOXA. Show trials continue for treason charges, with pressure mounting on Ivan Pavlov, the lead attorney in these cases.

March 2021: Navalny, Open Russia, Perpetual Protest

Details: Human Rights

March 2021: Navalny, Open Russia, Perpetual Protest

Details: 06 April 2021; Diana Fishman

In March, Russian authorities continued to purge the political space—a process triggered by Alexei Navalny’s activities, a surge in protest movement, and the start of the September election campaign. Navalny himself is facing serious health problems and harsh treatment from the colony administration. Pressure is growing on members of his team, as well as independent municipal deputies, whose forum in Moscow was dispersed by the police. The persecution continues of Perpetual Protest participants, who stand accused of vandalism against the Prosecutor General’s Office building.

February-2021: Anastasia Shevchenko, Yuri Dmitriev, participants of the January protests

Details: Human Rights

February-2021: Anastasia Shevchenko, Yuri Dmitriev, participants of the January protests

Details: 04 March 2021; Diana Fishman

In February, Russia saw the beginning of a large-scale wave of prosecution against participants of the January pro-Navalny protests. Out of the more than 11,000 people detained, 1,251 were subjected to administrative arrests in Moscow alone, and criminal cases were opened against 90. In addition, activist Anastasia Shevchenko was convicted in Rostov-on-Don for her participation in the work of an “undesirable” organization, and in Karelia a court upheld the conviction of historian Yuri Dmitriev.

January 2021: Alexey Navalny, Azat Miftakhov, Perm activists

Details: Human Rights

January 2021: Alexey Navalny, Azat Miftakhov, Perm activists

Details: 04 February 2021; Diana Fishman

January saw plenty of political turbulence in Russia—from opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s return to Russia and immediate arrest to mass protests that resulted in a harsh police crackdown. Also last month, Azat Miftakhov, a graduate student of mathematics at Moscow State University, was convicted in a politically motivated case, while in Perm, the prosecutor demanded to toughen the punishment for local activists in the so-called “Putin doll” case, deeming the initial sentence too lenient.

December 2020: Alexander Shestun, “spy mania,” Yulia Galyamina,

Details: Human Rights

December 2020: Alexander Shestun, “spy mania,” Yulia Galyamina,

Details: 05 January 2021; Diana Fishman

The last month of 2020 showcased some of the worst repressive trends in Russia. Former district official in the Moscow region Alexander Shestun, who gained publicity for releasing records of the region’s governor threatening him, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Similarly long prison terms were given to residents of Kaliningrad, Antonina Zimina and Konstantin Antonets, for alleged treason, and to former Inter-RAO top manager Karina Tsurkan for alleged espionage. The politically motivated prosecution of Moscow municipal deputy Yulia Galyamina, however, resulted in a suspended sentence.

November 2020: Hizb ut-Tahrir, Rosderzhava, FBK, Anna Korovushkina

Details: Human Rights

November 2020: Hizb ut-Tahrir, Rosderzhava, FBK, Anna Korovushkina

Details: 02 December 2020; Diana Fishman

November saw continuous persecutions of members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a religious and political organization banned in Russia. According to Memorial Human Rights Center, a total of 309 people have been persecuted for their association with this organization. In Moscow Region, tensions have grown in the case against Alexander Dorogov, a blogger who was investigating police corruption for the publication Rosderzhava. A new criminal case was opened against Ivan Zhdanov, director of Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). The brutality of the Russian penal system led to the death of pianist Anna Korovushkina.

Human Rights Advocates: Political Repressions in Russia Are Getting Worse

Details: Human Rights

Human Rights Advocates: Political Repressions in Russia Are Getting Worse

Details: 06 November 2020; Institute of Modern Russia

On October 30, Russia’s Day of Political Prisoners, the Sakharov Center, the Memorial Human Rights Center, and the Boris Nemtsov Foundation held a roundtable on politically motivated prosecutions in modern Russia. On the same day, the Memorial Center published an updated list of political prisoners, which currently includes 362 persons—an uptake from last year’s 305. As Memorial notes, the list is by no means exhaustive, as it only reflects the minimal accurate estimate of persecutions that can be substantiated through public data.

October 2020: Yulia Galyamina, Mikhail Iosilevich, Yan Sidorov

Details: Human Rights

October 2020: Yulia Galyamina, Mikhail Iosilevich, Yan Sidorov

Details: 01 November 2020; Diana Fishman

A number of political persecutions in October targeted the non-systemic opposition—a trend that Memorial Human Rights Center links to the Kremlin’s pressure on potential candidates in the 2021 State Duma elections. In Moscow, a trial has begun in the criminal case against municipal deputy Yulia Galyamina. In Nizhny Novgorod, oppositionist Mikhail Iosilevich was charged with collaborating with an “undesirable organization.” Additionally, in the Ulyanovsk region, Yan Sidorov, a defendant in the politically motivated “Rostov case,” was denied parole.

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