Ex-director of Open Russia Andrei Pivovarov was sentenced to four years in prison. He is also prohibited from engaging in social and political activities, including using the Internet, for eight years.
The decision was made by the Leninsky District Court of Krasnodar. Pivovarov's team reported that the verdict contains about 50 pages, some of which are reprints of publications in social networks. “I didn’t admit my guilt at the last meeting, I wanted the country to develop along a democratic path,” Judge Isakova said during the reading of the verdict.
The prosecutor demanded 5 years in prison for him, he is accused under the article on the leadership of an "undesirable" organization. On the eve of the decision, Pivovarov made his final speech. In his speech, he spoke about the path that Russia has gone from well-fed years to the war with Ukraine thanks to corruption, authoritarian power, systematic imprisonment of unwanted people and the complete atrophy of the political will of the Russians. The full text of the speech is here .
Andrei Pivovarov was detained on May 31, 2021 in St. Petersburg, after which he was transferred to the Kuban. The human rights activist maintains his innocence. He clarifies that the criminal prosecution is actually connected with the desire of the authorities to limit his political activities before the elections to the State Duma. Earlier, Open Russia decided to liquidate, but the organization's employees stressed in a statement that they would continue to "support independent politicians, educate and provide legal support to the victims of arbitrariness to the best of their ability."