Anastasia Shevchenko punished with suspended sentence

In Rostov-on-Don, a court found activist Anastasia Shevchenko guilty under a criminal article on participation in activities of an undesirable organization and punished her with four years of conditional sentence.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that prosecutors requested the court to sentence Anastasia Shevchenko, a member of the federal council of the NGO "Open Russia"*, to five years of imprisonment. On February 7, Anastasia Shevchenko delivered her final speech, in which she called on law enforcers and judges not to fulfil the political order to persecute activists. The activist emphasized that the prosecutors requested a more severe punishment than the article on participation in activities of an undesirable organization provided.

The Oktyabrsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don sentenced Anastasia Shevchenko to four years of suspended imprisonment with a four-year probationary period, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reported from the courtroom.

*The activities of the two organizations registered in the UK and containing the words "Open Russia" in their titles have been recognized by the Russia's General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) to be undesirable organizations in Russia.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 18, 2021 at 04:19 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.