The Basmanny Court of Moscow has sentenced Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the movement "Golos," to five years in a general-regime colony. The verdict was based on charges of leading the activities of an "undesirable" NGO (Part 3, Article 284.1 of the Russian Criminal Code), as reported by the outlet Mediazona.
An additional measure imposed was a nine-year ban on public advocacy work. "Don’t worry, I’m fine. And you stay strong!" Melkonyants addressed those present after the verdict was announced.
As Mediazona clarifies, the time spent in pre-trial detention was counted with a 1:1.5 ratio. Given that the defendant has been held in a pre-trial detention center since August 2023, he has effectively already "served" over 2.5 years of the assigned term.
The prosecution initially sought the maximum penalty for the defendant—six years of imprisonment.
The charges relate to the work of an "undesirable" organization—the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), which was added to the relevant list in 2021. According to "Golos," however, the movement ceased cooperation with ENEMO after the restrictions were imposed.
Investigators claim the collaboration continued. Defense lawyers, however, emphasize that by the time ENEMO was declared "undesirable," the "Golos" association had already been dissolved, and the movement of the same name was not part of ENEMO.
Melkonyants was detained in August 2023 during large-scale raids targeting election observers in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh, and Veliky Novgorod, after which he remained in custody.