Global Courant 2023-05-17 19:50:14
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Moscow has cracked down on opposition voices, with several sentenced to long prison terms.
A Moscow court has ordered the arrest of prominent film producer Alexander Rodnyansky and theater director Ivan Vyrypaev for “spreading false information” about the Russian military.
The first court hearings against Rodnyansky and Vyrypaev took place on April 27, but were not reported by the court until Wednesday.
According to the court’s press service, Rodnyansky and Vyrypaev, who are outside Russia, will be taken into custody if Russian authorities manage to detain or extradite them.
The Russian Interior Ministry has also placed Vyrypaev on the federal wanted list.
Kyiv-born Rodnyansky has been one of the most influential figures in Russian cinema in recent decades.
He left Russia after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022 and has repeatedly spoken out against the war. In October 2022, the Russian Ministry of Justice declared Rodnyansky a “foreign agent”.
The popular playwright, director and actor Vyrypaev has been living and working in Warsaw for several years and has also spoken out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Also on Wednesday, a Moscow court sentenced opposition member and anti-war activist Mikhail Krieger to seven years in prison.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (File: Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via Reuters)
Krieger was arrested in November on charges of justifying terrorism and incitement to hatred with the threat of violence, in reference to 2020 social media posts praising the organizers of attacks on Federal Security Service buildings and referring to the hanging of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Prosecutors on Tuesday asked for nine years in prison.
In court just before his sentencing, Krieger said he was being prosecuted for his “anti-war and now openly pro-Ukrainian stance”.
Since Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, the government has been pursuing a crackdown on dissent, unseen since the Soviet era.
The Kremlin’s sweeping campaign of repression has criminalized criticism of the war.
In addition to fines and jail terms, those accused have been fired, blacklisted, branded “foreign agents” or fled Russia.
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