Human rights project “Support for political prisoners. Memorial recognized Moscow activist Mikhail Krieger as a political prisoner, accused of justifying terrorism (part 2 of article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
“We believe that the persecution of Mikhail Krieger fits into the framework of the state campaign to “cleanse” dissidents and is a reaction to the anti-war statements of the activist,” human rights activists say.
Krieger was detained in Moscow because of a post posted on Facebook in 2020. On November 5, he was sent to a pre-trial detention center for 1 month and 28 days. The court session was held behind closed doors, the press and relatives were not allowed into the hall, despite petitions.
Mikhail Krieger is a Moscow opposition activist, former deputy of the Tagansky District Council of Moscow. He stood at the origins of the Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, participated in the Solidarity movement. Since the early 1990s, he has been engaged in political activism: pickets in defense of political prisoners, speaks out in support of the politician Alexei Navalny and his brother Oleg, and is on duty on the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, where opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was killed. Since 2014, Krieger has been organizing rallies against the war in Ukraine. In 1991, during the August events, he and his wife Vera defended the White House.
