Yevgeny Roizman, the former mayor of the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and one of the last prominent opposition figures left in Russia who is not behind bars, went on trial on April 26 on a charge of "repetitively discrediting the armed forces" involved in the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.
The outspoken Kremlin critic was arrested in August 2022 and charged over statements he made on YouTube about Russia's war against Ukraine, launched in February 2022.
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The 60-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charges at the first session of the trial on April 26, after having said earlier that "all risks are clear. It is about up to three years in prison. My mood is OK. I understand everything."
After a brief hearing, the judge adjourned the trial until May 10.
Since his arrest, Roizman has been barred from communicating with anyone without permission, using the Internet, telephones, mail, and attending public events. His communications were limited to family members and his lawyers.
In mid-March, while awaiting trial, Roizman was sentenced to 14 days in jail on a separate charge about the alleged distribution of extremist symbols.
Since leaving the post of mayor of the country's fourth-largest city in 2018, Roizman has gained a popular following for his campaigns to raise money for sick children, and he is known for his regular jogs around the city, which attract supporters and journalists alike. His penchant for crude language to mock authorities has proven popular with his supporters.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Roizman has been outspoken in his criticism of the conflict. He has been fined three times on misdemeanor charges of "discrediting" the Russian Army.
Shortly after the invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law criminalizing any criticism regarding the armed forces or the conduct of the Ukraine war, which the Kremlin calls a “special military operation.”
Roizman's trial came the same day another Kremlin critic, jailed opposition politician Aleksei Navalny, was in court on terrorism charges that appear to be part of the government's escalating clampdown on dissent.
Last week, a court sentenced Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison on treason and other charges for criticizing the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.