Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 03rd Jan. UN human rights expert Mariana Katzarova, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia on Tuesday voiced concern over the use of legislation to clampdown on freedom of expression in Russia, after jailing two poets for reciting their work at an anti-war event.
According to UN expert, a Moscow court sentenced Artyom Kamardin to seven years and Yegor Shtovba to five and a half years in prison last Thursday in response to their participation in a public poetry reading in the Russian capital Moscow, known as the “Mayakovsky Readings.”
Both men acting independently took part in the event where activists and poets recited anti-mobilization and anti-war poems on 25 September 2022.
Mariana Katzarova said “The decision starkly contravenes international standards for the protection of freedom of expression,”.
“The sentence by the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow reveals systemic issues concerning the integrity of law enforcement and judicial systems in Russia and their use to suppress dissent and criticism, especially regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Ms. Katzarova added.
The poets were charged under Russia’s national security legislation for “inciting hatred or enmity or humiliating the dignity of a person or a group of persons” and for calling for action that allegedly threatened State security, she noted.
Mr. Kamardin complained that he was severely tortured and ill-treated when he was arrested, according to UN Office of human rights in Geneva.
The local Investigative Committee in Moscow refused to open a criminal investigation into allegations of torture.
Mariana Katzarova warned “The nature of the charges, severity of the sentences, and conduct of the trial itself, based on testimony from a ‘secret witness’, send a clear message to all of Russian society that dissenting voices, whether through poetry, art, or other forms of expression, will face serious repercussions,”.
“Sham trials have become a go-to tool of intimidation aimed at instilling fear and discouraging others from engaging in anti-war expression,” Ms. Katzarova said.
She called for the immediate release of the poets and urged Russian authorities to grant them effective remedies against violations of their human rights.
