During the arguments in the 1st Western District Military Court, the prosecution requested 18 years in a high-security colony for the 67-year-old dissident from St. Petersburg, Alexander Skobov, reported a RusNews correspondent from the courtroom. Prosecutor Yulia Yanovskaya demanded that Skobov be found guilty and sentenced to six years of imprisonment under the article on 'justifying terrorism', and another 12 years under the article on 'participation in a terrorist community'. The prosecution also asks to deprive him of the right to administer websites and Telegram channels for four years and to impose a fine of 400 thousand rubles.
In the arguments, the state prosecutor stated that Skobov 'considers the Russian Federation an aggressor that attacked Ukraine', 'calls the political regime in Russia a 'regime of murderers' and 'expresses a strong negative attitude towards the activities of the President of the Russian Federation'.
In addition, the prosecution 'does not trust the testimony of witness Yuli Rybakov about the substitution of the search protocol' and 'believes that he is trying by all means to help his friend'.
Skobov was detained on April 2, 2024, on charges of 'justifying terrorism' for posts on social networks. On April 4, a court in St. Petersburg sent him to a pre-trial detention center. According to the investigation, from September 2023 to February 2024, Skobov published several posts on his Telegram channel justifying the explosion of the Crimean Bridge and also called for terrorist acts on the territory of Russia. The initiation of a case on 'participation in the activities of a terrorist organization' due to connections with the 'Free Russia Forum'** became known in May. In March of last year, he was included in the list of 'terrorists and extremists'.
In court, Skobov stated that he does not recognize or respect the court, therefore he refuses to testify.
Alexander Skobov is a well-known Soviet dissident, left-wing activist, political prisoner, and a figure in the last case under the article on 'anti-Soviet agitation'. In the USSR, he was twice sent for compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital. He spent a total of six years in medical institutions: two years for distributing the samizdat magazine 'Perspectives', and another four for writing slogans in support of the arrested dissident Lev Volokhonsky in the center of St. Petersburg.
During Soviet times, cases involving Skobov were handled, among others, by Vladimir Putin, who worked in the Fifth Directorate of the KGB in Leningrad and the Leningrad region. Historian Konstantin Sholmov published in 2022 the search protocol of the artist and dissident Oleg Volkov in the case of the inscription 'You crucify freedom, but the human soul knows no shackles!' which appeared on the wall of the Peter and Paul Fortress in 1976. According to the document, one of the participants in the search was Vladimir Putin.
In the 1990s, Skobov protested against the war in Chechnya, then participated in the 'Solidarity' movement, and was also a member of the 'Yabloko' party for some time.
* Included in the list of 'terrorists and extremists', recognized as a 'foreign agent'.
** Recognized in Russia as an 'undesirable' organization.
Photo: Novaya Gazeta