Five Russian political prisoners who had spoken out against the war in Ukraine — a history teacher, a journalist, a high school graduate, a dining car manager, and a radio amateur — have become the laureates of the annual Boris Nemtsov Prize, Mediazona reports.
The prize was awarded to:
- Journalist for RusNews Maria Ponomarenko. A court in Russia’s Barnaul sentenced the woman to six years in prison over charges of “spreading fake news about the Russian army” because of a Telegram post about the Russian attack on the drama theatre in the city of Mariupol.
- Political activist Maxim Lypkan. A Moscow court sent the 18-year-old young man to a pre-trial detention facility over charges of “spreading fake news about the Russian army” because of his anti-war posts on Telegram and an interview with Radio Liberty, in which he said about his plans to organise a protest against the war in Ukraine.
- History teacher Nikita Tushkanov. The Komi native was sentenced to five years and five months behind bars over charges of “justifying terrorism” and “discrediting the Russian army” because of his posts about the Crimea bridge explosion and annexation of Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.
- Former employee of Russian Railways Mikhail Simonov. A court sentenced the 63-year-old man to seven years in a penal colony over charges of “spreading fakes about the Russian army” because of two VKontakte posts — the first about the murder of women and children and the second about “Russian pilots bombing children”.
- Stoker Vladimir Rumyantsev. A Vologda court sentenced the 62-year-old resident of the city to three years behind bars over charges of “spreading fake news about the Russian army” for building a wired radio outlet in his flat, which he used to spread information about the war, and writing anti-war posts.
“If I had to use one word to explain what unites these people, I’d say ‘conscience’. And the second word would be, of course, ‘bravery’,” co-founder of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation Zhanna Nemtsova said.
She added that the people who were not prominent activists or politicians “remain in the shadows and don’t receive enough support” after being arrested. This year, the laureates are opponents of the war, the criminal cases against which have not yet become big news stories.
According to her, any support of Ukraine and speaking out against the war are criminalised in Russia: “People are sentenced to real terms. I understand that mass protests are always visible, while individual ones aren’t. But still, they exist. And I think we should be talking about them,” she concluded.
The Boris Nemtsov Foundation has been awarding the Prize for “Courage in defending democratic rights and freedoms” since 2016. Last year, it was given to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. The prize is €10,000.
In the previous years, the prize was awarded to politicians Alexey Navalny and Lev Schlosberg, as well as civil activists Konstantin Kotov, Anastasia Shevchenko, Ildar Dadin, and Nadezhda Mityushkina.
