The appellate court upheld the sentence of Grigory Melkonyants

The Moscow City Court upheld the five-year sentence for Grigory Melkonyants, co-chairman of the Golos* movement, rejecting his defense's arguments. 

As reported by the " Caucasian Knot ," on July 4, it was reported that Grigory Melkonyants had been transferred to an unknown location . Melkonyants was removed from the pretrial detention center before the appellate court considered his appeal of the sentence, according to his lawyer, Mikhail Biryukov. A week later, it was reported that Melkonyants had been transferred to Komi . 

Grigory Melkonyants's appeal of the sentence was heard by a panel of three judges from the Moscow City Court—Dmitry Pronyakin, Evgenia Demina, and Larisa Martynova. Melkonyants' defense demanded that the sentence be overturned and he be acquitted, arguing that the investigation failed to prove his guilt. 

In the complaint, the defense, in particular, pointed out that the court of first instance recognized Melkonyants' actions as "participation in the activities of an undesirable organization," which were committed before September 27, 2021, when ENEMO** was recognized as an "undesirable organization." 

The judges rejected all defense arguments and upheld the verdict, changing only the mistakenly stated last name of the defendant (Ognev). The same judge who sentenced Melkonyants had heard the case of a man with that last name a year earlier, the convicted human rights activist noted. 

Melkonyants, who participated in the hearing via video link, ironically remarked that "the verdict was changed"; after this remark, he was disconnected from the connection, Mediazona reports*.

Following Melkonyants's sentence, the "Golos"* movement announced its dissolution due to the threat of criminal prosecution for any form of participation in its work and the cessation of all projects, including the "Election Violations Map."  The political scientist concluded that there are no longer any opportunities for independent election monitoring in Russia.

In his final statement, Melkonyants called his time in prison a "fascinating period" in his life. "Here, in prison, I've met many people I probably would never have met in ordinary life—people with different life experiences, different levels of education, and convictions for a wide variety of crimes. And every day we have to negotiate how to live together: how to organize cell duty, whether or not to ventilate the cell, where to get a refrigerator or a kettle. Essentially, we constantly hold small referendums and reach agreement," he said. "Caucasian Knot" published the full  text of Grigory Melkonyants' final statement  , recorded by a correspondent in the courtroom on May 12, 2025.

* included in the register of foreign agents.

** recognized as an undesirable organization in Russia.

*** Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.