Daghestani activist sentenced in absentia for sharing ‘fake’ information about Russian army
The Sovietsky district court in Makhachkala has sentenced Daghestani human rights defender and journalist Svetlana Amirova (Anokhina) in absentia to five years in prison on charges of disseminating ‘knowingly false information’ about the Russian army. The sentence is the maximum penalty applicable.
The ruling was reported by the human rights project APUS on Wednesday. The criminal prosecution was based on two Instagram posts published by Anokhina in the spring of 2022. According to the case materials, the posts concerned the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine, including the Bucha massacre, where Russian soldiers killed hundreds of Ukrainian civilians in the outskirts of Kyiv.
The case against Anokhina was opened roughly a year after the posts were published and she was soon placed on an international wanted list; she had left Russia in June 2021.
During the investigation, law enforcement agencies applied what human rights groups describe as ‘procedural pressure’ on Anokhina’s relatives. In particular, using court authorisation, investigators wiretapped her daughter’s phone. Three searches were also carried out at the apartment of Anokhina’s mother, who was 95 years old at the time. Investigators additionally took a saliva sample from her for DNA analysis.
Anokhina is a journalist and human rights defender who has worked for many years in the North Caucasus. She is known as the founder of the crisis group Marem, which provides assistance to women who have experienced domestic violence, and as the editor-in-chief of the website Daptar — Women’s Space of the North Caucasus. Anokhina’s projects focus on supporting women in crisis situations, including cases involving domestic abuse and forced marriages.
In 2021, the Marem crisis project received international recognition after receiving an award in the category ‘support project of the year’ at the international festival on gender literacy, freedom of choice and human dignity Femfest-2021.
In 2024, Anokhina was included in the list of the 100 most influential women of the year compiled by the BBC. The list features activists, politicians, artists, and entrepreneurs who, according to the compilers, have influenced social change, achieved significant professional success, broken new ground in their fields, or inspired change.
Anokhina left Russia in the summer of 2021 shortly after an incident in Makhachkala involving a crisis at an apartment where a young woman from Grozny, Khamilat Taramova, had been staying. At the time, Chechen law enforcement officers forcibly removed the woman, while volunteers and activists present in the apartment were beaten and taken to a police station. Following those events, Anokhina reported receiving threats.
Criminal cases under the article on spreading ‘fake information’ about the Russian army began to be brought en masse in Russia after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As a rule, prosecutions are based on social media posts, statements in the media, or public remarks concerning the actions of Russian forces.
In the first two years of the war, 132 people were convicted in Russia for spreading false information about the Russian armed forces and for ‘discrediting’ the army. Prison sentences were imposed on 42 of them. Over the same period, Russian courts considered 5,442 administrative cases for ‘discrediting’ the armed forces and issued 4,439 fines totalling ₽151 million ($2 million). In 2023 alone, 3,053 such cases were heard, resulting in 2,353 fines amounting to ₽76.5 million ($1 million), while 17 people were given administrative arrest.
Shota Kincha
