War in Ukraine: Russian opponent Roïzman fined for criticizing the offensive

A Russian court on Friday sentenced opposition leader Yevgeny Roizman to pay a fine for his criticism of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine, a relatively light punishment amid relentless repression in Russia.

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The very popular former mayor of Yekaterinburg, a large city in the Urals, was found guilty of "discrediting" the Russian army and sentenced to pay a fine of 260,000 rubles (about 3,000 euros at the current exchange rate), which was what the prosecutor had requested, according to Russian news agencies.

Restrictions

According to the same source, Mr. Roïzman will also remain subject to several restrictions, including a ban on using the Internet and giving interviews, until his conviction is confirmed on appeal or after the deadline for filing appeals has elapsed. The 60-year-old former mayor's sentence to a simple fine is surprising, while other prominent opponents or anonymous Russians have received heavy prison sentences on similar charges. Quoted by news agencies, Roizman said he had no plans to appeal his fine. "I find that under the current conditions, this is an acquittal," he said. Thursday, after the prosecutor's indictment, the opponent had already expressed his surprise, considering "quite unexpected" the lightness of the sentence requested. In the current circumstances, "it is really very little, what they are asking for," Roïzman said.

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Yevgeny Roizman was accused of "discrediting" the Russian military in a video he posted on YouTube in July 2022, in which he criticized the Russian military operation in Ukraine. He faced up to five years in prison, under a law adopted in Russia in the wake of the launch of the offensive in Ukraine at the end of February 2022, a repressive text that has recently been further tightened. Yevgeny Roizman, who ruled Yekaterinburg, a city of 1.5 million people, between 2013 and 2018, is considered one of the last major opposition figures to have remained in Russia and so far escaped a heavy prison sentence. After being charged last August, Roïzman was not remanded in custody, but was banned from using the internet, including feeding his busy Twitter feed, and giving interviews.

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Opposition figures

Around him, the main opposition figures who remained in Russia were thrown into prison, such as Alexei Navalny, Ilya Yashin or Vladimir Kara-Murza. Last December, opposition leader Ilya Yashin was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for condemning the offensive in Ukraine.

For his part, opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison in April, a judgment of rare severity, for "high treason", dissemination of "false information" about the Russian army and illegal work for an "undesirable" organization.