American journalist and author Masha Gessen was convicted in absentia by a Moscow court on Monday of spreading false information about the military and sentenced to eight years in prison.
Moscow-born Gessen is a US-based reporter for The New Yorker, a columnist for The New York Times and a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Award-winning author.
Russian police issued a wanted warrant for Gessen in December and Russian media reported that the case was based on comments police made in an interview with a popular Russian online blogger about atrocities in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.
In the interview, which has been viewed more than 6.5 million times on YouTube since September 2022, Gessen and blogger Yuri Dud said: Atrocities It happened earlier that year in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
Ukrainian troops spotted recapturing Bucha from retreating Russian forces At least 400 Many men, women and children are buried in the streets, inside homes and in mass graves bearing marks of torture. Russian authorities have strongly denied that their troops were responsible and have prosecuted several prominent Russian figures who have spoken out about the Bucha massacre.
The charges were brought under a Russian law adopted days after the start of the invasion of Ukraine that effectively criminalizes any public statement that deviates from the Kremlin’s view of the war. Russia maintains that its troops in Ukraine only attack military targets, not civilians.
Gessen, a dual American and Russian citizen, lived in Russia until 2013, when the country passed a law banning the LGBTQ+ community.
Gessen is unlikely to be convicted and jailed in Russia unless he travels to a country that has an extradition treaty with Moscow.
Since the war began in February 2022, Russia has cracked down on dissent and targeted Americans.
According to OVD-Info, a human rights group that tracks political arrests and provides legal assistance, 1,053 criminal cases have been filed against anti-war protesters in Russia.
Also on Monday, Russian national Richard Rose was convicted of spreading false information about Russian troops in Bucha, OVD-Info reported. Rose was also sentenced to eight years in prison.
“The massacre in Bucha will never be forgotten…. Russian fascists will never be forgiven for this,” he said in the video, according to OVD-Info.
In his final address to the court, Rose said he considered himself a political prisoner and had no intention of changing his view, according to the watchdog.
