A group of Russian doctors have appealed to Vladimir Putin to release a recently jailed paediatrician in a video message broadcast by independent radio station Ekho FM on Wednesday.
Nadezhda Buyanova, 68, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison on charges of spreading false information about the Russian military on 12 November.
Twelve doctors talk to the camera in the 90-second video, with comments including: “This verdict is blatant lawlessness and manifest cruelty. The case against Nadezhda Buyanova is completely fabricated. There is no evidence of her guilt.”
Buyanova had been reported to the police by Anastasia Akinshina, the ex-wife of a soldier who was killed in Ukraine, for allegedly blaming Russia for the war and labelling her ex-husband a “legitimate target” for Ukrainian forces during a private appointment with Akinshina and her son.
Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, personally demanded a criminal case be opened against Buyanova. The hospital where Buyanova worked dismissed her from her post, yet was unable to provide the court with any video footage to corroborate Akinshina’s allegations.
Buyanova’s lawyers argued that the prosecution had failed to provide any evidence that the conversation took place, while also pointing to the absence of any audio or video recording of the appointment.
The judge who pronounced the verdict against Buyanova subsequently received a promotion.