Russian lawyer jailed for seven years over antiwar comments

Moscow — A Russian court has jailed a lawyer who represented a critic of President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine for seven years after convicting him of spreading false information about the army and of “inciting hatred”.

The charges against Dmitry Talantov stem from several Facebook posts in which he called the actions of Russian soldiers in Ukraine “extreme Nazi practices”, the Mediazona outlet, which has itself been designated “a foreign agent” by Russian authorities, reported on Thursday.

Talantov denied any wrongdoing, the court in Udmurtia, east of Moscow, said in a statement. Reuters could not immediately contact his lawyer to ask if he plans to appeal.

Russian politicians insist citizens be united in the face of what they describe as an existential struggle with the West, and have cast people who criticise the military as “fifth columnists”.

The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, on Wednesday called for Talantov’s acquittal.

“Talantov must be released immediately and exonerated of all criminal responsibility, as acts such as expressing a nonviolent opinion or peaceful dissent against the war are protected by international human rights law,” Katzarova said.

Before his arrest in June 2022, Talantov was the president of the bar association in the Udmurtia region. He had also served as a legal counsel for Ivan Safronov, a former military affairs correspondent for Russian newspapers who was jailed for 22 years on treason charges in September 2022 after being convicted of transferring confidential information to Western intelligence agencies.

Safronov’s supporters have said the case was retribution for his reporting on Russia’s international arms deals.

Katzarova cast Talantov’s trial as part of an “appalling broader pattern of repression in Russia” against legal professionals.

Two previous lawyers for Safronov, Ivan Pavlov and Yevgeny Smirnov, have fled Russia over criminal inquiries related to their defence of the reporter.

Pavlov left after Russian prosecutors opened a criminal case against him in which they accused him of disclosing classified information related to the Safronov case.

Smirnov fled after he said the Federal Security Service (FSB) launched an investigation into his activities.

Reuters