Natalia Filonova leaves a penal colony in the Irkutsk region on Tuesday. Photo: Lyudi Baykala
A 63-year-old woman from the city of Ulan-Ude in Russia’s Far East who was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison for violence against a police officer has been released from a penal colony in the Irkutsk region, independent regional media outlet Lyudi Baykala reported on Tuesday.
Natalia Filonova was detained in September 2022 for asking passersby questions about mobilisation in Ulan-Ude while streaming the responses live on social media and was charged with repeatedly violating rules banning rallies.
However, prosecutors subsequently accused Filonova of scratching two police officers while being transported to the police station and, in a later incident, of attacking a police officer with a pen. Filonova has always denied doing any such thing.
While she was initially placed under house arrest, Filonova was moved to a pretrial detention centre after she left her home without the permission of her probation officer when her husband suffered a heart attack.
Filonova had originally moved to Ulan-Ude to allow her adopted son, who has disabilities, access to necessary healthcare. However, following her arrest in 2022, he was taken from her and placed in an orphanage. In August 2023, Filonova’s son alleged that the orphanage director had orchestrated physical attacks against him and that he had been beaten by his peers.
Upon her release, Filonova was met outside the penal colony by fellow human rights activists who had gathered to see her. Speaking to local media, Filonova said, “I have achieved my goal and the world has heard me.”
Filonova previously worked as a journalist, and even published her own independent newspaper In Total Defiance, which was shut down by authorities.
Filonova has previously faced legal issues over her political beliefs. In 2021, she was fined 250,000 rubles (€2,800 at the time) for her public support of late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, and was charged with petty hooliganism a year later for asking a bus driver to remove a pro-war sticker.
