Petersburg activist Olga Smirnova sentenced to six years for anti-war publications
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The Kirovsky District Court of St. Petersburg today, August 30, sentenced Olga Smirnova, a member of the Democratic Petersburg – Peaceful Resistance movement, to six years in a penal colony for publishing about Russia conducting a special military operation on the territory of Ukraine. The posts were posted in the movement’s group on the Vkontakte social network. According to the investigation, the information in them does not correspond to the official statements of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. In addition, Olga Smirnova was banned from administering websites for three years.
The court found her guilty of spreading fake news about the Russian armed forces “motivated by political hatred or enmity” (part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the maximum punishment under this article is ten years in prison). The period that Olga Smirnova spent in a pre-trial detention center will be deducted from the appointed time: she has been in custody since May 2022.
During the debate, the state prosecutor asked for seven years in prison for the activist. The prosecutor did not see any extenuating circumstances.
Lawyer Maria Zyryanova asked that her client be acquitted due to the absence of corpus delicti in her actions. According to the defense side, the guilt of her client “has not been established and proven.” Maria Zyryanova also recalled that her client, in her testimony, indicated “that she did not understand the essence and content of the charge.” Olga Smirnova did not agree with the accusation and did not admit her guilt.
“We do not agree with the verdict. Only the operative part was announced today, we did not see the motivational part. In any case, we will file an appeal,” said Ms. Zyryanova after the meeting.
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