Musician and environmental activist Alexander Bakhtin, who criticized the Ukraine offensive, faced trial in Russia after a year of authorities closing in on him; thousands of Russians have been arrested for protesting the conflict and spreading “fake information.”
It took about a year for authorities to close in on 51-year-old musician and environmental activist Alexander Bakhtin, one of the thousands of Russians arrested for criticizing the Ukraine offensive.
Unlike the audiences of high-profile critics, the trials of ordinary Russians usually take place away from public attention.
Bakhtin’s audience was attended by one friend and by his mother. She was summoned to court as a witness in the prosecution against her son.
“(Alexander) wouldn’t hurt a fly. He protects animals. He’s an environmentalist,” Lyudmyla Bakhtina said with tears.
She had seen him twice since his detention for spreading “fake information” about the Russian army, for which he now faces up to 10 years in prison.
The accusation is based on three social media posts from March-April 2022 in which Bakhtin discussed civilian deaths and blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the conflict.
A year later, he was suddenly arrested in his hometown of Mytishchi, in Moscow’s suburbs.
More than 20,000 people have been detained in Russia for protesting the conflict in Ukraine, according to a tally by the independent rights group OVD-Info.
Thousands of people have been charged with publishing “fake information” on the offensive, others accused of the army “discredit.”
A few hours before Bakhtin’s audience, 75-year-old Anatoly Roshchin also faced trial in another suburb of Moscow.
“I want Ukrainians to know that not all Russians are cowards.”
Miroslava Salazar with AFP
