Russia’s state financial watchdog on Tuesday added Alexei Gorinov, the first known Russian to be jailed under laws that criminalize anti-war dissent, to its list of “terrorists and extremists.”
Rosfinmonitoring’s list features nearly 16,800 individuals and more than 800 organizations whose bank accounts can be frozen by the authorities without court orders.
Gorinov, 63, is a former Moscow councilor who was sentenced to seven years in prison in July 2022 for spreading “fake news” about the Russian military. He was arrested after criticizing colleagues for planning a children’s drawing competition as Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
In November, a military court in the city of Vladimir, where Gorinov was serving his sentence, handed him an additional three-year prison sentence on charges of “justifying terrorism.”
He was found guilty based on testimony from fellow prisoners that he had allegedly justified Ukrainian attacks on the Crimean Bridge and the actions of Ukrainian military units banned as “terrorists” in Russia.
Gorinov denied the charges.
The human rights organization Memorial, which classifies Gorinov as a political prisoner, said the war critic could end up in prison until the end of 2029.
An international group of scientists in January put forward the initiative to nominate Gorinov for the Nobel Peace Prize for his “courage and commitment to peace in captivity.”
On Saturday, Gorinov’s support group said prison authorities had proposed extending his status as someone who is “prone to commit terrorist crimes.”
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