8-Year Prison Sentence Sought for Russian Artist Who Protested War in Ukraine

Sasha Skochilenko, jailed since April 2022 for staging anti-war protest in Russian supermarket, in critical health condition due to rigorous trial schedule amid ongoing crackdown on dissenting voices.

• Russian authorities have demanded an eight-year prison sentence for Sasha Skochilenko, an artist who protested against Russia's war in Ukraine by replacing supermarket price tags with antiwar slogans.
• Skochilenko's arrest took place a month after the legislation was enacted that criminalizes public expression deviating from the Kremlin's official line on the war in Ukraine, resulting in a widespread crackdown on opposition politicians, human rights activists, and ordinary Russians criticizing the Kremlin.
• Skochilenko, held in pre-trial detention for nearly 19 months, suffers from several health issues, including a congenital heart defect, bipolar disorder, and celiac disease, necessitating a gluten-free diet, and her health has worsened due to the rigorous trial schedule often preventing her from getting meals.
• The most prominent human rights group in Russia, Memorial, recognized Skochilenko as a political prisoner; Amnesty International also recognized her as a 'prisoner of conscience.'
• According to OVD-Info, a rights group monitoring political arrests, 19,834 Russians have been arrested between the start of the war in February and late October 2023 for demonstrating or protesting against the war.

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