Vladimir Putin criticAlexei Gorinov was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony in July for criticising the Ukraine war. He is now begging for help amid 'fear for his life'.
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Accused of 'spreading false information'
Gorinov, 60, is a deputy at Moscow’s Krasnoselsky district council and trained lawyer who was arrested in April on charges of 'spreading false information' about the Russian army. He is the first person to be sentenced under the new laws that restrict criticism of the war, as reported by The Guardian.
According to the authorities, the municipal councillor committed the offence at a district meeting. Gorinov objected to the council’s proposal to hold a children’s drawing contest despite the war in Ukraine, where he said 'children were dying'. Gorinov also said at the meeting:
I believe all efforts of [Russian] civil society should be aimed only at stopping the war and withdrawing Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine.
Today the Meshchansky District Court of #Moscow will pass a sentence on municipal deputy Alexei Gorinov. He is accused of spreading "fakes" about the Russian army because he has called the war a war.
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) July 8, 2022
A policeman covered Gorinov's anti-war poster with his hands during the court. pic.twitter.com/hz9DyhehKQ
His health is deteriorating
The opposition councillor has written an open letter from FSIN Russia, a pre-trial detention centre in Moscow, describing his worsening health. A copy of the letter was published on the Telegram channel 'Freedom to Alexei Gorinov!', as reported by Newsweek.
According to his lawyer, Katerina Tertukhina, Gorinovsaid in his appeal:
I have been sick for three weeks. I have a continuous cough that does not allow me to breathe freely, sleep, eat. I don't get any medical help. My condition is deteriorating. Please help.
On Wednesday 24 August, after visiting Gorinov, Tertukhina told Russian state-run news outlet Kommersant, that he 'is pale, has lost a lot of weight and coughs all the time'. She said that doctors have not been able to diagnose him, nor has he been transferred to the prison hospital. She continued:
I seriously fear for his life, he needs immediate hospitalization, either in a prison hospital or in a city hospital where there are prison wards.
Tertukhina is planning to file a complaint about the conditions of the detention centre, and the failure to provide adequate medical care.
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