Russian Peace Activist Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Spreading “False Information” on Social Media
St. Petersburg, Russia – Olga B. Smirnova, a 55-year-old architect and peace activist, was sentenced to six years in a penal colony by a district court in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. Smirnova, known for her outspoken criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was convicted of spreading so-called false information about the country’s armed forces on social media.
The arrest of Smirnova took place in May of this year, following her posts on VKontakte, the Russian equivalent of Facebook. Her posts described the deaths of Ukrainian civilians and the shelling of cities after Russia’s invasion. The prosecution argued that Smirnova had an “extremely negative attitude toward the political regime of the Russian Federation,” which led to her conviction.
The case against Smirnova was primarily based on seven posts she made to a group called “Democratic Petersburg – Peaceful Resistance.” In one of her posts on March 6, 2022, she compared the war crimes committed by Russian forces to the atrocities of the German Nazis during World War II.
During the trial, the prosecution deemed the information as “fake,” as it did not align with official accounts from Russia’s ministries of defense or foreign affairs. The evidence presented against Smirnova also included books written in Ukrainian, discovered during a search of her apartment.
The defense argued that Russia’s Constitution guarantees freedom of speech. However, their argument did not sway the court’s decision.
Before her sentencing, Smirnova denied spreading any fake news but acknowledged that opposition to the Russian government was a tradition in her family. Smirnova will receive credit for the 16 months she spent in pretrial detention. In addition to the prison sentence, she was banned from administering any online sites for the next three years.
According to OVD-Info, a Russian rights group, more than 600 individuals have faced criminal charges for antiwar activities, and over 7,100 administrative cases have been initiated since the start of the war on February 24, 2022, until the end of June this year.
In a letter published on Wednesday, Smirnova shared her experiences in court and prison and offered advice: “Now it is better to turn to the dissidents of the Soviet period for advice until their generation has left this mortal world. They will better explain how to practically realize their inalienable rights when they remained only on paper.”
The sentencing of Olga B. Smirnova has raised concerns among human rights organizations, further highlighting the limitations on freedom of speech in Russia. Critics argue that the government’s crackdown on dissenting voices restricts democratic principles and undermines the right to express opinions and criticism.