With his 13-year-old daughter already confined to am orphanage, Alexei Moskalyov, made a dramatic escape rather than face two years in prison for posting antiwar views online.
RIGA, Latvia — A Russian court on Tuesday ordered a two-year jail sentence for the single father of a 13-year-old girl who drew an antiwar picture in art class at school, in a case that led to the daughter being seized by authorities and placed in an orphanage.But in a stunning turn, the father, Alexei Moskalyov, 54, escaped from house arrest on Monday night, opting not to wait for the almost-certain guilty verdict after the state prosecutor demanded the two-year jail term on Monday.
Moskalyov joins a growing number of political defendants who have fled house arrest, facing tough sentences over their antiwar opinions or criticism of Putin’s government.The verdict in Moskalyov’s case was delivered just over a week after Putin ordered an even tougher crackdown on antiwar activism and dissent, claiming that “enemies” were trying to destroy Russia from within.
As human rights observers report a growing number of arrests and harsher jail sentences for Russians who oppose the war in Ukraine, fear and anxiety are rising in society with classmates and neighbors informing on each other in a bid to quash the few voices speaking out for peace.
An independent local lawmaker, Olga Podolskaya, a family supporter who has been attempting for weeks to see Maria, was barred from the orphanage on Tuesday.
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