A Russian court has replaced a 10 1/2 year prison term in the drugs-related conviction of a former leader of the banned Open Russia rights group, Lia Milushkina, with a more lenient sentence in a case widely considered to be politically motivated.
A court in the city of Pskov ruled on May 16 that Milushkina's prison term must be replaced by 18 months of so-called "correctional work."
The punishment defined as "correctional work" in Russia means that convicts stay home and work at their permanent jobs, with certain portions of their salaries being deducted by the State Treasury during the assigned term.
In August 2021, a court in Pskov, sentenced Milushkina to 10 1/2 years in prison and her husband, Artyom Milushkin, to 11 years after finding them guilty of illegal drug trafficking.
Milushkina is the former coordinator of the local branch of the Open Russia rights group linked to exiled Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Her prison sentence was deferred until 2024 because the couple has two young children.
Several Khodorkovsky-linked organizations have been banned or otherwise targeted in recent years under so-called “foreign agent” laws, including the pro-democracy Open Russia movement.
The couple was arrested in January 2019 and charged with selling a large amount of drugs based on testimony given by anonymous witnesses and a police agent whose drug addiction came up during the trial. The police officer is now serving time for drug possession.
Milushkin was also charged with arson.
During the trial, the defendants said they were arrested before a rally against arbitrary police practices and officers planted the drugs.
The activists say the charges are politically motivated because they often organized and participated in protests in Pskov, a city 700 kilometers northwest of Moscow.
After the verdict was read, Artyom Milushkin broke the benches inside a cage where defendants are seated for hearings.
In May 2021, Open Russia ceased operations to protect its members.