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(28 Mar 2023)
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++PLEASE NOTE: AP IS OPERATING IN RUSSIA ACCORDING TO RUSSIAN RESTRICTIONS ON ALL REPORTING RELATED TO THE ONGOING MILITARY OPERATION IN UKRAINE++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yefremov - 28 March 2023
1. Various exteriors of School No. 9 where Alexei Moskalyov’s daughter Maria attended
2. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Yelena Agafonova, activist:
“This is monstrous, this is unacceptable. And those people who are watching it now and do not understand, they lie on the couch and watch it like some kind of series. You know that this may soon happen to you, to your children. Perhaps your children will express their opinion somewhere. Perhaps your children will laugh at something somewhere, and they will be in exactly the same situation in which this family is now. Perhaps you will leave a like to something somewhere. Perhaps a neighbour will report on you, to whom something will seem. So while you are lying on the couch, this will all happen more, and more, and more.”
3. People outside Yefremov Interdistrict Court
4. Close up of flag
6. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Yelena Makarova, family supporter:
"Yes, of course, I will come (to the court session on parental rights restriction) and support. I know this child (Alexei Moskalyov’s daughter Maria), she is a very good girl, a bright, smart girl. And already grown-up, not childlike. She has grown up this year. (Journalist: Do you know if she is brought here?) We do not know. The fact is that since March 1, I have not seen her at all. We tried to come to the orphanage, visit her, but I didn't see her.”
7. Various exteriors of orphanage Alexei Moskalyov’s daughter Maria is staying
STORYLINE:
A Russian court on Tuesday convicted a single father over social media posts criticizing the conflict in Ukraine and sentenced him to two years in prison — a case brought to the attention of authorities by his daughter’s pro-Kyiv drawings, according to his lawyer and activists.
The case of Alexei Moskalyov, who was indicted and tried in his hometown of Yefremov, about 300 kilometers (about 186 miles) south of Moscow, has drawn international attention and is a indication that the Kremlin is handing out harsher punishments for any expression of criticism of the so-called special military operation.
In a twist to the case, the 54-year-old Moskalyov fled house arrest overnight, court officials said, and wasn't present for the outcome of his trial. He had been wearing a bracelet that tracked his movements but apparently had taken it off.
Moskalyov was accused of repeatedly discrediting the Russian army, a criminal offense in accordance to a law Russian authorities adopted shortly after sending troops into Ukraine.
He was indicted over a series of social media posts about Russia's operations in Ukraine.
But, according to his lawyer and activists who supported him throughout the case and trial, his troubles started last spring after his 13-year-old daughter, Maria, drew a picture at school that said, “Glory to Ukraine.”
In April 2022, Moskalyov was fined for his critical comments on social media. His apartment was raided in December and a criminal case was opened against him this month. He was placed under house arrest and his daughter was taken away from him and placed into an orphanage.
At the trial, which was rapidly concluded in one day on Monday, Moskalyov rejected the accusations and insisted that he had nothing to do with the social media posts in question.
He was scheduled to appear in court again next week at a hearing on a petition to restrict his parental rights.
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