The Tver court in Moscow sentenced Artem Kamardin, a participant in "Mayakovsky readings", to 7 years in prison for reading poems against the Russian attack on Ukraine; the second defendant in this case, Yehor Shtovba, received 5.5 years in jail.
Russian poets got seven years in prison for poems against the war in Ukraine
The poets were found guilty of calling for activities directed against the security of the state and of inciting hatred or enmity against the militants of the "DPR" and "LPR" groups through the poems they read near the monument to Mayakovsky on Triumphal Square in the centre of Moscow.
The action took place on September 25, 2022. Young poets Artem Kamardin, Yehor Shtovba and Mykola Daineko expressed their disagreement with the war that Russia started against Ukraine in their poems.
The next day, the apartment where they lived was searched. During the search, they were beaten, and one of the poets, according to witnesses, was sexually assaulted.
On the same day, a video appeared in which Kamardin, Shtovba and Daineko, standing on their knees, "apologise" for their statements. Bruises are visible on their faces. Then, they were detained, and on September 28, the Russian court sent them to jail.
In May 2023, the Tver District Court of Moscow sentenced poet and rock musician Nikolai Daineko to four years in prison in this criminal case.
The Memorial Human Rights Center recognised Daineko, Kamardin and Shtovba as political prisoners.
