On Wednesday, a court in Russia passed a judgement of 6 years in jail to a man “an online war critic” on charges of posting messages on online platforms that criticized as well as condemned Russia for the attack on Ukraine. This happened amidst the recent censorship by Moscow imposed on public reproval of the war.
The man identified to be 35-year-old Nikolai Farafonov was convicted by a military court in the Komi area of North Russia on the charges of “public incitement to commit terrorist acts”, as reported by Russian media.
The prosecution stated that Nikolai posted “videos and messages” enticing for the incineration of the recruitment bureaus for the Russian military. there has been an onslaught of arson or failed arson on military offices across Russia in the last 2 years when the war was initiated.
The NGO Memorial quoted Farafonov as “a political prisoner” and stated that Nikolai resided in a town in the area and administered a channel on the social media platform, Telegram that publicly criticised the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Talking about the Telegram channel, Memorial informed that Nikolai mentioned specifically killing of the Russian soldiers in Ukraine, simultaneously condemning civilian suppression, “patriotic” Kremlin teachings in educational institutions and various local matters.
Earlier in October of 2022, Farafonov had been penalized on charges of “discrediting” the military after online comments which according to Memorial alluded to the children in Ukraine killed by the blades of Russian troops. Regardless of the fine Nikolai posted messages criticizing Russia till he was apprehended for “calls for terrorism” in September of last year.
Nikolai was just one of the thousands and hundreds of civilians in Russia who have been penalized and sentenced to jail for condemning Vladimir Putin, Russia’s President and his assault on Ukraine initiated in February of 2022.
