The court toughened the sentence of the Radio Liberty survey participant
The Moscow City Court toughened the sentence of Yury Kohovts, sent him five years in prison instead of forced labor for participating in a survey conducted by Radio Liberty two years ago. This was reported by RusNews and Mediazona from the courtroom.
Kokhovets was found guilty of spreading fakes about the Russian army motivated by political hatred. In the last word, Kokhovets repeated that at the time of participation in the poll, he did not know about the existence of a criminal article and did not think that the video of the poll would be published.
Kokhovets came to the court with no belongings: he and the lawyer hoped that the court would leave the previous sentence – five years of forced labor – unchanged. They will appeal the court’s decision.
The matter became known in March 2023. Kokhovets was accused of participating in a Radio Liberty poll, during which the 37-year-old disinfection technician said that “the war was started by the Russian government and it must stop it,” and also mentioned Bucha and Russian attacks on shopping centers in Ukraine. At the court hearings, Kokhovets insisted that he expressed his opinion to journalists and did not feel political hatred.
In April 2024, the court found Kokhovets guilty and sentenced him to forced labor. The decision was appealed by the prosecution, which requested 5.5 years in prison and considered the sentence too lenient, and the defense, which demanded that Kohovets be acquitted.
- After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian authorities started persecution for anti-war speeches and statements.
- According to “OVD-Info” estimates, cases for anti-war stance in Russia were brought against at least 1,047 people, including against 324 – for the article about fakes about the Russian army. Russian courts recognize reports about the war in Ukraine that do not coincide with the version of the Ministry of Defense of Russia as fakes.
