A Moscow judge on Thursday sentenced exiled human rights veteran Lev Ponomaryov to five and a half years in prison in absentia after finding him guilty of violating Russia’s laws on “foreign agents” and “undesirable” organizations.
In 2021, Ponomaryov was the first person ever to face charges in Russia for violating the “foreign agent” law after the Justice Ministry designated him as a “foreign agent” a year earlier. He has since been repeatedly fined for failing to comply with the strict labeling requirements placed on “foreign agents.”
Ponomaryov fled to France in 2022 after being detained for protesting Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Russian authorities have designated two organizations he established in exile as “undesirable.”
A judge at Moscow’s Khoroshevsky District Court convicted Ponomaryov of both evading his “foreign agent” obligations and participating in an “undesirable” organization.
He was ordered to serve the 5.5-year sentence at a penal colony upon extradition or reentry to Russia. He was also banned from running websites for nine years.
