The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova, once again called for the immediate and unconditional release of former municipal deputy Alexei Gorinov.
«I am outraged by the severity of punishments for peaceful anti-war protests in today's Russia. Alexei Gorinov is paying an incredibly high price for his right to freedom of speech», — stated Mariana Katzarova.
In November 2022, in a separate opinion, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recognized Gorinov's detention as arbitrary and called for his release from prison. On March 15, 2022, Gorinov spoke at a municipal council meeting against holding a children's drawing contest, calling Russia's invasion of Ukraine aggression and stating that children are dying in Ukraine every day. Later, he was arrested for «spreading knowingly false information», and on July 8, 2022, he was sentenced to seven years in prison.
In November 2022, in a separate opinion, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recognized Gorinov's detention as arbitrary and called for his release from prison.
On November 29, the 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced Gorinov to three years in prison on charges of «justifying terrorism» for conversations with cellmates. Human rights activists have repeatedly demanded the release of the former municipal deputy.
«I will continue to call for the release of political prisoners, whose number has reached almost 2000 people, although it is possible that this figure is much higher», — stated Mariana Katzarova in her statement.