MOSCOW In Russia, the prosecutor is demanding nine years in prison for a student of Moscow State University who criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine on his Telegram channel called Protestnyj MGU.
Student at MGU, Moscow State University Dmitry Ivanov has been in pre-trial detention since June of last year. He has denied being guilty of spreading false information.
This is one of the criminal charges brought in Russia under strict fake news laws enacted in March. Laws have been used to suppress anti-war sentiments.
Today, Wednesday, in the Timirjazevski court, the speeches of the defense and the accused were also heard.
Among the audience are, for example, an opposition politician who was previously sentenced to prison Ilya Yashinin parents and a representative of the US Embassy.
The trial has been followed closely Mediazona news site (you will switch to another service).
Judge Darya Pugacheva will announce the verdict next week, Tuesday, March 7.
The prosecution’s evidence is the statements of the Russian authorities
Prosecutor Julija Pravosudin according to Ivanov, in March-April of last year, on his Telegram channel, he spread slanderous information about the Russian armed forces, motivated by political hatred.
These are Ivanov’s writings, which dealt with, among other things, the Russian armed forces’ attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the deaths of Ukrainian civilians, the destruction suffered by Ukrainian civil infrastructure, the attack on the maternity hospital in Mariupol, and war crimes in Butcha and Irpin.
A large part of the writings were reposts of texts written by others.
As proof of the fallacy of their claims, the prosecutor presented the official statements of Russia, according to which the Russian forces have not committed war crimes and that the “special military operation” is in accordance with international law.
The prosecutor listed a representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor KonashenkovMinister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrovthe representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Marija Zakharova and UN Ambassador Vasili Nebeznyan pleadings.
During the trial, the judge gave the defense permission to call Lavrov, Nebeznja and Konashenkov as witnesses, but they did not appear in court.
At the hearing, prosecutor Pravosud read the statements of witnesses who were outraged by Ivanov’s Telegram messages.
These were dissatisfied with the fact that Ivanov had called a “military special operation” a war and had written about the defeats of Ukraine and Russia.
Witnesses said they experienced feelings of injustice, threat and anxiety because of the writings.
A key witness was the former dean of the state university, who said Ivanov had been constantly speaking out against those in power and spreading inappropriate information about Russian forces.
Lawyer: Not all laws are fair
Ivanov’s lawyer Marija Eismont questioned the incitement of hatred presented in the indictment. He cited the decision of the plenary session of the Supreme Court, according to which criticizing those in power cannot be considered incitement to hatred.
Eismont also said that the court cannot rely only on a law that has not even been considered by the Constitutional Court.
Eismont said there have been cases in history where formal compliance with laws has violated justice.
He recalled that at the end of the 40s, the Nuremberg war crimes trials also handed down sentences to the judges of Nazi Germany.
Ivanov: The entire indictment is contrary to reality
In his speech, Dmitri Ivanov said that the atmosphere of fear is not created by him, but by the state itself.
– The investigation, while trying to accuse me of spreading “fake news”, built one big lie. Literally, the entire indictment from the first to the last word is contrary to reality, Ivanov said.
According to Ivanov, the only truth in the accusation is that he has made publications and he has never denied it.
He said he still signs everything he wrote a year ago.
Ivanov spoke in court about his feelings of guilt about the war.
– If you feel guilty, it means you have a conscience. It means that you are unable to see the suffering of innocent people without pain in your heart, that you are able to sympathize with someone else’s sorrow.
Ivanov said that the feeling of guilt cannot be avoided, but it is also irrational when a person is not guilty of anything.
– The reason is those who started and are waging this war, who give and implement criminal orders, who commit mischief in a foreign country, and those who enable these crimes by oppressing Russia and their own people and creating an atmosphere of fear and intolerance.
Ivanov said bluntly that he was using the trial as a pulpit for his anti-war message.
– Our misfortune is our inability to be proactive and find like-minded people. We are used to following leaders and waiting for orders. Don’t wait, act! Ivanov said.
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