The 1st Western District Military Court sentenced the 67-year-old St. Petersburg dissident Alexander Skobov to 16 years in a penal colony and a fine of 300 thousand rubles, reported a 'Mediazona' correspondent** from the courtroom. The prosecution requested 18 years in a high-security colony for him. Skobov is accused of 'justifying terrorism' and 'participating in the activities of a terrorist community' for a post about the explosion on the Crimean Bridge and participation in the 'Forum of Free Russia'***.
In his final statement, Skobov noted that the 'Forum of Free Russia', in which he is a member, is recognized in the Russian Federation as 'undesirable', but not a 'terrorist' organization. Skobov called this a 'petty uninteresting trick' by 'his armed opponent'.
'Today they will continue to ask me — do I plead guilty? Well, here I accuse! I accuse the stench of corpses ruling Putin's clique of preparing, unleashing, and waging an aggressive war, of war crimes in Ukraine, of political terror in Russia, of corrupting my people. It is I who ask the attendants of the Putin regime present here, who are small cogs in its repressive machine: 'Do you plead guilty to complicity in Putin's crimes? Do you repent of your complicity?' — declared Skobov.
Alexander Skobov was detained on April 2, 2024, on charges of 'justifying terrorism' for posts on social media. On April 4, a court in St. Petersburg sent him to a pre-trial detention center. The initiation of a case on 'participation in the activities of a terrorist organization' due to connections with the 'Forum of Free Russia' became known in May. In March of last year, he was included in the list of 'terrorists and extremists'.
Skobov is a well-known Soviet dissident, leftist 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 clinics: 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.
In the 1990s, Skobov protested against the war in Chechnya, then participated in the 'Solidarity' movement.
* Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent', included in the list of 'terrorists and extremists'.
** Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent'.
*** Recognized in Russia as an 'undesirable' organization.
Photo: Kommersant