InternationalNews
US Imposes Sanctions on Russian Judge Who Jailed Opposition Activist
The US Department of the Treasury announced today (Tuesday) that the United States has imposed sanctions on a Russian judge due to her role in the arrest of human rights activist Alexei Gorinov for his opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to Reuters.
The department added that Judge Olesya Mendelieva ordered the “continued arbitrary detention” of Gorinov and sentenced him to seven years in prison in July 2022 for opposing the war.
Gorinov, a former member of the Moscow City Council, became the first man to be jailed under Russia’s wartime censorship laws. He was convicted in 2022 of spreading false information about the Russian military after stating during a council meeting that children in Ukraine “are dying every day” as a result of Moscow’s invasion.
The US Treasury Department stated in a statement: “Mendelieva, known for issuing long and harsh sentences, convicted Gorinov of intentionally spreading false information about the Russian military, making her the first judge in Russia to convict someone… under this charge.”
The department added that Gorinov had suggested observing a minute of silence for the Russian war casualties in Ukraine during a city council meeting on March 15, 2022. He was physically assaulted and denied medical treatment.
In November, Gorinov was sentenced to three more years in a penal institution after being convicted of a new charge of “justifying terrorism,” accused of promoting terrorism in conversations with other prisoners.
Gorinov (63) is in poor health and remains one of the most prominent opposition figures still imprisoned in Russia.
The Kremlin does not comment on individual cases, but it says that Russian courts apply the law to individuals involved in subversive activities during wartime.
