A court in Moscow on Wednesday convicted one of the leaders of a prominent independent election monitoring group on charges of organizing the work of an 鈥渦ndesirable鈥� organization and sentenced him to five years in prison.
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia鈥檚 leading election watchdog Golos, has rejected the charges as politically motivated. The case against him is part of the and rights activists that the government ratcheted up after invading Ukraine in 2022.
After a judge of the Basmanny District Court delivered the verdict, Melkonyants, 44, told several dozen supporters and journalists from the glass defendant's cage: 鈥淒on't worry, I'm not despairing. You shouldn't despair either!鈥�
Golos has monitored for and exposed violations in every major election in Russia since it was founded in 2000. Over the years, it has faced mounting pressure from the authorities.
In 2013, the group was 鈥� a label that implies additional government scrutiny and carries strong pejorative connotations. Three years later, it was liquidated as a non-governmental organization by Russia鈥檚 Justice Ministry.
Golos has continued to operate without registering as an NGO, exposing violations in various elections, and in 2021 it was added to a new registry of 鈥渇oreign agents,鈥� created by the Justice Ministry for groups that are not registered as a legal entity in Russia.
It has not been designated as 鈥渦ndesirable鈥� 鈥� a label that under a 2015 law makes involvement with such organizations a criminal offense. But when it was an NGO, it was a member of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations, or ENEMO, a group that was declared 鈥渦ndesirable鈥� in Russia in 2021, and the charges against Melkonyants stemmed from that.
In his closing statement to the court on Monday, published in full by independent news outlets Mediazona and Meduza, Melkonyants talked about how rights and freedoms often are taken for granted but look very different from 鈥渂ehind bars,鈥� and it鈥檚 clear how much one must constantly 鈥減rotect and defend鈥� them.
The defense argued that when ENEMO was outlawed in Russia, Golos wasn't a member, and Melkonyants had nothing to do with it. The renowned election expert and lawyer by training was arrested in August 2023 and has been in custody ever since.
Ella Pamfilova, chair of Russia's Central Election Commission, the country's main election authority, spoke out in his support at the time, telling Russian business daily Vedomosti about the case: 鈥淚 would really like to hope that they will handle this objectively. Because his criticism, often professional, helped us a lot sometimes.鈥�
Independent journalists, critics, activists and opposition figures in Russia have come under increasing pressure from the government in recent years that intensified significantly amid the war in Ukraine.
Multiple independent news outlets and rights groups have been shut down, labeled as 鈥渇oreign agents鈥� or outlawed as 鈥渦ndesirable.鈥� Hundreds of activists and critics of the Kremlin have faced criminal charges.
Melkonyants' defense team said after the verdict that they will appeal. Lawyer Mikhail Biryukov told reporters that 鈥渢here is no evidence" in the case that he and others on the defense team consider 鈥減olitically motivated, pretentious.鈥�
"We will fight for Grigory鈥檚 freedom, because an illegal, unjust verdict should not exist. It should not stand (in the appeal proceedings). We all hope that the law will prevail,鈥� Biryukov said.
With the time Melkonyants has already spent in detention taken into account, he will have to serve less than half of the term he was handed down, according to Mediazona.
Memorial, Russia's prominent human rights group that in 2022, has designated Melkonyants as a political prisoner.
Dasha Litvinova, The Associated Press
