Latest news with #DaryaKozyreva
Novaya Gazeta Europe
2 days ago
- Politics
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Russian political prisoners call on world leaders to back mass amnesty in future peace talks — Novaya Gazeta Europe
A group of jailed Russian dissidents have signed a joint letter to world leaders calling for a mass release of political prisoners in Russia and Ukrainian civilians held by Russian forces — estimated at over 10,000 people — as a key term in any peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv, Reuters reported on Thursday. The letter, which Reuters published in its entirety, was signed by 11 individuals, including activists, poets, and a local politician, who say that 'at least 10,000' Russian political prisoners and Ukrainian civilian hostages are being held at Russian prisons. 'We are all punished for one thing — for taking a civic stance,' the letter reads. Since 2012, they say, over 100 repressive laws have been passed in Russia to stamp out dissent, with more than 60 introduced since February 2022 alone, while national human rights institutions have been hollowed out. 'There are no acquittals in politically motivated cases in Russia,' it says. 'The cruelty of punishment is growing; no one is surprised by 10-, 15-, or 20-year prison terms'. One of the most high-profile signatories is Alexey Gorinov, a 63-year-old former municipal deputy who became the first person to receive a custodial sentence under wartime censorship laws after calling for a minute's silence for the victims of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in March 2023, before receiving an additional three years in prison after a fellow inmate denounced him in November 2024. The youngest prisoner who signed is Darya Kozyreva, 19, jailed earlier this year for leaving flowers at a St. Petersburg monument to 19th-century Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko alongside a handwritten excerpt from one of his poems. 'We call on both sides of the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to immediately conduct an exchange of prisoners of war and civilians according to the formula 'all for all', including Ukrainian civilian hostages,' the statement concludes. Yelena Filina, an exiled opposition politician who coordinated the collection of signatures from prisoners across Russia's penal system, told Reuters that many of the inmates felt ongoing peace talks were their best, if not last, chance for freedom. 'If peace agreements are signed without taking into account their amnesty, exchange or other form of release, the window of opportunity will slam shut for a long time,' she told Reuters. Representatives of Kyiv and Moscow have conducted two rounds of negotiations in Istanbul since May, resulting in a limited agreement governing prisoner swaps and body repatriations, as well as discussions of a partial ceasefire. On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied claims by US senior envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg that Russia was seeking to 'stall for time' while continuing an aerial offensive on Ukraine, and stated the dates for a third round of discussions in Istanbul had not yet been agreed upon, according to state-affiliated news agency Interfax.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Open letter to world leaders from jailed Russian dissidents
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Activist Darya Kozyreva, who is charged with repeatedly discrediting the Russian armed forces in the course of the Russia-Ukraine military conflict, delivers a speech during a court hearing in Saint Petersburg, Russia, April 18, 2025. REUTERS/Anastasia Barashkova TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY/File Photo Here is the text of a joint letter from 11 jailed Russian dissidents, issued to international leaders via Reuters. We, Russian political prisoners, appeal to all international leaders who care about the suffering of people for their beliefs. There are at least 10,000 of us - Russian political prisoners and Ukrainian civilian hostages. We are all punished for one thing - for taking a civic stance. The concepts of justice and fairness are absent in Russia today; anyone who dares to think critically can end up behind bars. Repressive legislation aimed at eliminating any dissent has been consistently tightened since 2012. From 2018 to 2022, at least 50 repressive laws were adopted, and since February 24, 2022 - over 60 more. There are no acquittals in politically motivated cases in Russia. The cruelty of punishment is growing; no one is surprised by 10-, 15-, and 20-year prison terms. The State Duma (parliament) regularly demands the return of the death penalty. The chances of a fair hearing of such cases by Russian courts were small before, but they finally disappeared after Russia refused to comply with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in 2022. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore $500 in Child LifeSG credits, Edusave, Post-Sec Education Account top-ups to be disbursed in July Singapore PAP questions Pritam's interview with Malaysian podcast, says politics should stop at water's edge World Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota dies in car crash in Spain Sport Liverpool star Diogo Jota dead at 28: What you need to know about the footballer Business 60 S'pore firms to get AI boost from Tata Consultancy as it launches a new innovation centre here Singapore Scoot launches flights to Da Nang, Kota Bharu and Nha Trang; boosts frequency to other destinations Singapore Electrician who bit off part of coworker's ear during fight gets 6 months' jail Asia 4 dead, 30 missing after ferry sinks on way to Indonesia's Bali Human rights institutions in modern Russia have been completely replaced by bodies that merely imitate human rights activities. As a result, the health and lives of prisoners are at risk, torture and pressure against them are most often not investigated or punished. Political prisoners are, more often than others, held in harsher conditions and deprived of the opportunity for parole and legal relaxation of the detention regime. The practice of initiating additional criminal cases based on denunciations by other convicts has become common. But despite all this, we have not lost our voices, we have not sunk into oblivion. We have maintained our civic position, which we consider important to state: * We call on both sides of the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to immediately conduct an exchange of prisoners of war and civilians according to the formula "all for all", including Ukrainian civilian hostages. * We call for the immediate and unconditional release of sick political prisoners who are dying in Russian prisons. * We are counting on politicians from different countries to create conditions for the release of all those persecuted in Russia for political reasons. * We urge the media of different countries not to remain silent and to cover the activities of Russian citizens who continue to risk their lives in the struggle for freedom and democracy. * We ask politicians from democratic countries to support the struggle of Russians and to adopt resolutions on behalf of Parliaments, political associations and parties. Only together can we bring closer the time of freedom and peace. Alexei Gorinov, Anna Arkhipova, Vladimir Domnin, Boris Kagarlitsky, Darya Kozyreva, Dmitry Pchelintsev, Andrei Trofimov, Ilya Shakursky, Alexander Shestun, Artem Kamardin, Azat Miftakhov REUTERS
Gulf Today
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Today
Russia jails 19-year-old for nearly three years for condemning Ukraine conflict
A Russian court handed down a prison sentence of nearly three years to Darya Kozyreva, a young activist who used 19th-century poetry and graffiti to protest the conflict in Ukraine. A Reuters witness in the court on Friday said Kozyreva, 19, was found guilty of repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian army after she put up a poster with lines of Ukrainian verse on a public square and gave an interview to a Russian-language service of Radio Free Europe. She pleaded not guilty, calling the case against her "one big fabrication," according to a trial transcript compiled by Mediazona, an independent news outlet. She was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. Kozyreva is one of an estimated 234 people imprisoned in Russia for their anti-war position, according to a tally by Memorial, a Nobel Prize-winning Russian human rights group. In December 2022, aged just 17, Kozyreva sprayed "Murderers, you bombed it. Judases" in black paint on a sculpture of two intertwined hearts, erected outside St Petersburg's Hermitage Museum and representing the city's links with Mariupol, a Ukrainian city largely razed to the ground during a siege that spring. Darya Kozyreva is forced into a police car in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Reuters In early 2024, after being fined 30,000 roubles ($370) for posting about Ukraine online, Kozyreva was expelled from the medical faculty of St Petersburg State University. A month later, on the conflict's two-year anniversary, she taped a piece of paper containing a fragment of verse by Taras Shevchenko, a father of modern Ukrainian literature, onto a statue of him in a St Petersburg park: "Oh bury me, then rise ye up / And break your heavy chains / And water with the tyrants' blood / The freedom you have gained." Kozyreva was swiftly arrested and held in pre-trial detention for nearly a year, until she was released this February to house arrest. Addressing the court on Friday, Kozyreva said she believed she had committed no crime. "I have no guilt, my conscience is clear," she said, according to Mediazona's transcript. "Because the truth is never guilty." Reuters
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia jails 19-year-old for nearly three years for condemning Ukraine conflict
ST PETERSBURG (Reuters) - A Russian court handed down a prison sentence of nearly three years to Darya Kozyreva, a young activist who used 19th-century poetry and graffiti to protest the conflict in Ukraine. A Reuters witness in the court on Friday said Kozyreva, 19, was found guilty of repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian army after she put up a poster with lines of Ukrainian verse on a public square and gave an interview to a Russian-language service of Radio Free Europe. She pleaded not guilty, calling the case against her "one big fabrication," according to a trial transcript compiled by Mediazona, an independent news outlet. She was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. Kozyreva is one of an estimated 234 people imprisoned in Russia for their anti-war position, according to a tally by Memorial, a Nobel Prize-winning Russian human rights group. In December 2022, aged just 17, Kozyreva sprayed "Murderers, you bombed it. Judases" in black paint on a sculpture of two intertwined hearts, erected outside St Petersburg's Hermitage Museum and representing the city's links with Mariupol, a Ukrainian city largely razed to the ground during a siege that spring. In early 2024, after being fined 30,000 roubles ($370) for posting about Ukraine online, Kozyreva was expelled from the medical faculty of St Petersburg State University. A month later, on the conflict's two-year anniversary, she taped a piece of paper containing a fragment of verse by Taras Shevchenko, a father of modern Ukrainian literature, onto a statue of him in a St Petersburg park: "Oh bury me, then rise ye up / And break your heavy chains / And water with the tyrants' blood / The freedom you have gained." Kozyreva was swiftly arrested and held in pre-trial detention for nearly a year, until she was released this February to house arrest. Addressing the court on Friday, Kozyreva said she believed she had committed no crime. "I have no guilt, my conscience is clear," she said, according to Mediazona's transcript. "Because the truth is never guilty." ($1 = 80.9000 roubles)
Reuters
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Russia jails 19-year-old for nearly three years for condemning Ukraine conflict
ST PETERSBURG, April 18 (Reuters) - A Russian court handed down a prison sentence of nearly three years to Darya Kozyreva, a young activist who used 19th-century poetry and graffiti to protest the conflict in Ukraine. A Reuters witness in the court on Friday said Kozyreva, 19, was found guilty of repeatedly "discrediting" the Russian army after she put up a poster with lines of Ukrainian verse on a public square and gave an interview to a Russian-language service of Radio Free Europe. She pleaded not guilty, calling the case against her "one big fabrication," according to a trial transcript compiled by Mediazona, an independent news outlet. She was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. Kozyreva is one of an estimated 234 people imprisoned in Russia for their anti-war position, according to a tally by Memorial, a Nobel Prize-winning Russian human rights group. In December 2022, aged just 17, Kozyreva sprayed "Murderers, you bombed it. Judases" in black paint on a sculpture of two intertwined hearts, erected outside St Petersburg's Hermitage Museum and representing the city's links with Mariupol, a Ukrainian city largely razed to the ground during a siege that spring. In early 2024, after being fined 30,000 roubles ($370) for posting about Ukraine online, Kozyreva was expelled from the medical faculty of St Petersburg State University. A month later, on the conflict's two-year anniversary, she taped a piece of paper containing a fragment of verse by Taras Shevchenko, a father of modern Ukrainian literature, onto a statue of him in a St Petersburg park: "Oh bury me, then rise ye up / And break your heavy chains / And water with the tyrants' blood / The freedom you have gained." Kozyreva was swiftly arrested and held in pre-trial detention for nearly a year, until she was released this February to house arrest. Addressing the court on Friday, Kozyreva said she believed she had committed no crime. "I have no guilt, my conscience is clear," she said, according to Mediazona's transcript. "Because the truth is never guilty."
