Two young poets sentenced to prison in Russia for poems against war in Ukraine

A Tverskoy court in Moscow has convicted Artem Kamardin, a participant in the Mayakovsky Readings, to seven years in prison for reading poetry against Russia's invasion of Ukraine; the second defendant in the case, Yegor Shtovba, received five and a half years in prison. Source: Radio Liberty Details: The poets were found guilty of calling for activities against the security of the state and inciting hatred or enmity towards the militants of the "L/DPR" formations [Russian-backed "Luhansk/Donetsk People's Republics" terrorist organisations - ed.] because of the poems they recited near the Mayakovsky monument on Triumfalnaya Square in central Moscow.

The action took place on 25 September 2022.  In their poems, the young poets Artem Kamardin, Yegor Shtovba and Nikolai Daineko expressed their disagreement with the war that Russia had started against Ukraine.

The following day, the flat where they lived was searched. During the search, they were battered, and one of the poets, as witnesses said, was sexually assaulted. On the same day, a video appeared in which Kamardin, Shtovba and Daineko, kneeling, "apologise" for their views.

Bruises are visible on their faces. They were then detained and sent to a pre-trial detention centre by a Russian court on 28 September. The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow sentenced poet and rock musician Nikolai Daineko to four years in prison in this criminal case in May 2023.

The Memorial Human Rights Centre recognised Daineko, Kamardin and Shtovba as political prisoners.

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