Thread by @4freerussia_org

1/ "If you have Putin, you have rivers of blood": Moscow court sentences Russian opposition activist to 7 years in prison. His crime? "Justifying terrorism" and "issuing threats of violence." His offense? Comments and posts on Facebook.

2/ On May 17, 2023, an pro-democracy activist Mikhail Kriger, a member of the Solidarnost movement, was sentenced by a Russian military court to seven years in prison. He was convicted of "justifying terrorism" and "issuing threats of violence."

3/ Prosecutors claimed that Kriger put the lives of FSB officers at risk and advocated for the hanging of Vladimir Putin. According to his supporters, Kriger's offense involved comments and posts made on Facebook.

4/ In 2020, Mr. Kriger commented on a post about Mikhail Zhlobitsky, a student who detonated a bomb in an FSB office in Arkhangelsk, and Evgeny Manyurov, who opened fire on the FSB headquarters in Moscow.

5/ During his closing statement, Kriger stated that he was being persecuted due to his anti-war and openly pro-Ukrainian stance. He said, "If you have Putin, you have rivers of blood. Without Putin, this bloodshed wouldn't exist."

6/ On May 16, after the first day of the court hearing concluded, Kriger sang the Ukrainian song "Chervona Kalyna," which received applause from the audience. When a policeman asked him to lower his voice, the political prisoner responded, "But I've already sung everything."

7/ As Mr. Kriger left the courtroom, supporters pressed their palms against the glass, a powerful show of solidarity.

#freerussia #FreePoliticalPrisoners #notowar #stopwar #нетвойне