Crimean courts have switched to more severe punishments

The Sevastopol City Court has revised the verdict issued last year against Yellow Ribbon activist Ksenia Svetlishina, sentencing her to 13 years and 3 months in a general-regime penal colony, followed by one and a half years of restricted freedom. She was found guilty under Article 275 (High Treason) and Article 214 (Vandalism) of the Russian Criminal Code.

On 3 September 2024, Svetlishina had been convicted under Article 275.1 (Confidential cooperation with a foreign state) and Article 214 (Vandalism), receiving a sentence of five years and three months in a general-regime colony. On 21 July, it became known that during the cassation hearing on 8 July, the court had decided to return the case for retrial, stating that “the factual circumstances indicate grounds to classify the actions as a more serious crime.”

According to the court’s website, the investigation established that over several months the defendant had transmitted to representatives of a foreign state information about the location of defensive and military facilities. In addition, in one of the city’s parks she painted slogans supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine and messages insulting the Russian “president.”

The retrial was held behind closed doors on the pretext that the case materials contained state secrets. Meanwhile, the court’s official website concealed the defendant’s personal details and provided no information on the place, date, or time of the hearings or the announcement of the verdict. The case record listing the charges under Articles 275 and 214—the only one with this combination—was marked only as “Transfer of case materials to the judge” at the time the verdict was issued. The proceedings were presided over by Russian judge Danil Zemlyukov, who had been transferred to the occupied Sevastopol.

This article is the property of the Crimean Process. Read the news in Russian on its website.