A Moscow court on July 15 sentenced Masha Gessen to eight years in prison reports AP news agency.
Gessen writes for the American magazine New Yorker and the New York Times, among other things, and is a known critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Been wanted since last winter
According to AP, Russian police have had the journalist on a list of wanted persons since December last year. According to Russian media, the reason for this is statements that Gessen made about the massacre in Ukrainian Butja in an interview with the Russian blogger Yuri Dud. The clip has been viewed over 6.5 million times on YouTube.
The AP writes that Gessen is charged with violating a law that effectively prohibits statements about the war that deviate from the Kremlin’s version of events. The law was introduced in Russia a few days after the full-scale invasion.
Left Russia in 2013
Masha Gessen holds dual citizenship (US and Russian) and lived in Russia until 2013 when Russia introduced anti-LGBTQ laws.
It is unlikely that Gessen will be allowed to serve his sentence unless he travels to a country that has an extradition treaty with Russia.
Kulturnyheterna met Masha Gessen in connection with the release of the book “The future is history”, about how Russia has changed during Putin’s years in power. Watch the interview in the video player.