Without waiting for the outcome of the trial, Olesya Krivtsova left Russia to escape a likely ten-year prison sentence. She has now been added to Russia’s fugitive list.
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The name of Olesya Krivtsova, a 20-year-old Russian student, has been added to the Russian Interior Ministry’s list of fugitives, The Moscow Times reported. The young woman, from the city of Arkhangelsk, was charged with terrorism and repeatedly discrediting the Russian Armed Forces by posts on social media. If she is found guilty, Krivtsova could face a sentence of up to ten years in prison.
Russian student faces 10 years in prison for Instagram posts
It all started when he shared a post on his Instagram account about the explosion of the Kerch bridge in Crimea, described by the Kremlin as a terrorist act by Kiev forces, and then posted a mail from a friend about the war in Ukraine.
As she told the BBC in an interview, she was arrested in December by the Russian police, who broke into her house when she was talking on the phone with her mother. “I heard the front door open. Many policemen entered. They took my cell phone and yelled at me to lie down on the floor, ”she revealed. “I never imagined that someone could face such a long prison sentence for posting something on the Internet”the young woman admitted.
In January, a Russian court ruled that Krivtsova must await trial under house arrest. According to CNN, at that time the young woman was also added to the Russian list of terrorists and extremistswhich includes groups like ISIS or Al Qaeda.
Without waiting for the trial to take place, the Russian student managed to flee the country to Lithuania on March 15, sharing a video on social media in which she removes her electronic bracelet and displays a sign with the word “freedom”.
“I’m in Lithuania now and I can’t believe it’s all over”, he later wrote on a Telegram account created in his support. “Russia will be free,” she guaranteed.
Krivtsova’s case is just the latest in a series of convictions since Russian authorities tightened their crackdown on public demonstrations against the invasion of Ukraine. Russian authorities recently sentenced student Dmitry Ivanov to eight and a half years in prison for spreading false information about the Russian military and 44-year-old journalist Maria Ponomarenko for criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian student sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for discrediting the Russian army
Source: Observadora
