Moscow’s Khoroshevsky Court has sentenced 84-year-old human rights defender Lev Ponomaryov in absentia to five and a half years in prison, according to Mediazona.
The court found Ponomaryov guilty of organizing the activities of an “undesirable” organization and of evading the duties imposed on a “foreign agent”. The judge also barred him from administering websites for nine years.
The first charge was linked to the Andrei Sakharov Institute, which Ponomaryov founded in Paris in November 2022. In the summer of 2024, Russia’s Justice Ministry designated the organization as “undesirable.”
Despite that designation, the indictment said, Ponomaryov continued to organize the distribution of the institute’s materials, which prosecutors described as aimed at fostering protest sentiment and discrediting Russia’s state authorities.
The second charge stemmed from the activist’s refusal to place the legally required “foreign agent” labels on his publications.
The Andrei Sakharov Institute says its goals are to support Russian civil society under conditions of repression, assist political refugees and deserters from Russia, and provide a platform for expert discussion about ending the war and building democracy in Russia.