Photo: Mediazona
A Moscow woman was sentenced to eight years in prison on Thursday over a series of anti-war posts she made online over two years ago, state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Anastasia Berezhinskaya, 43, was found guilty of “discrediting” the Russian army, “spreading false information about the military motivated by political hatred”, and “justifying terrorism” over four posts she wrote on VK, Russia’s largest social network, in May and November 2022.
Prosecutors argued in court that Berezhinskaya had “made baseless claims about the killing of civilians, and of the torture and genodice of the Ukrainian nation”, independent news outlet Mediazona reported on Thursday .
“More than 4,000 innocent people are dead … Yet you still consider Putin the murderer to be your president,” Berezhinskaya wrote in a VK post that received fewer than 70 views in May 2022. “Putin said they were Nazis and terrorists. And you’re fine with this? For some reason, the entire civilised world is not fine with this except you.”
In another post in November 2022, Berezhinskaya said that Russia had “already lost the war”, adding that Vladimir Putin would be “tried by an international tribunal just like Hitler and his henchmen were in their time”.
The “justifying terrorism” charges came as a result of three comments Berezhinskaya made under one of her posts, in which she wrote: “Shoot this stupid bastard Putin, how much more killing of civilians do we have to put up with?”
Berezhinskaya did not testify in court, but according to the prosecution, she admitted that she had posted what she was accused of. She pleaded guilty of spreading “false information” about the army and “discrediting” the military, but pleaded only partially guilty to the “justifying terrorism” charge, saying she did not consider her comments about shooting Putin a call to action, Mediazona reported.
In an earlier statement, Berezhinskaya said she had been “upset” by Russia’s actions in Ukraine, “worried about the civilian population” of both countries, and only wrote her posts “for personal use”. Berezhinskaya also said she respected the Russian army and pledged henceforth “to be a worthy citizen”.
According to Berezhinskaya’s case file, she has been diagnosed with a mixed personality disorder, but does not require compulsory treatment, Mediazona reported, adding that she has two children and suffers from chronic pancreatitis.
