Who is Grigory Melkonyants? Russian election watchdog leader sentenced to five years in prison

A Moscow tribunal connected Wednesday sentenced Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the autarkic predetermination monitoring radical Golos, to 5 years successful situation connected charges of organizing the activities of an “undesirable” organization, a complaint wide condemned by quality rights advocates arsenic politically motivated.Melkonyants, who was arrested successful August 2023, has pleaded guiltless passim his trial. Prosecutors accused him of continuing practice with the Montenegro-based European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), which was designated “undesirable” by Russian authorities successful 2021.Judge Evgeniya Nikolaeva of Moscow’s Basmanny District Court recovered Melkonyants blameworthy of moving with ENEMO and imposed further restrictions beyond the situation sentence.

According to exiled autarkic quality outlet Mediazona, the tribunal besides barred Melkonyants from engaging successful immoderate “public activity” for 9 years pursuing his release.The lawsuit is portion of a broader run against governmental critics that the Kremlin has intensified since the penetration of Ukraine successful 2022. Melkonyants and Golos person some rejected the charges arsenic politically driven.Golos, which has documented predetermination violations crossed Russia since its founding successful 2000, has agelong been targeted by authorities.

It was labeled a “foreign agent” successful 2013, a designation carrying stigma and accrued scrutiny, and was dissolved arsenic a non-governmental enactment by the Justice Ministry successful 2016. The ...