Russia wants to jail opposition activist, anti-war official
Russian prosecutors are calling for prison sentences for a prominent opposition activist and for a Moscow city council member who opposes the invasion of Ukraine. It’s a sign the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent continues to gather pace. Andrei Pivovarov is the former head of Open Russia. His lawyer says prosecutors have asked that he be given a five-year sentence for “directing an undesirable organization,” even though he was arrested days after the organization disbanded. Also Thursday, a Russian prosecutor asked for a seven-year sentence for Alexei Gorinov, who criticized Moscow’s military intervention at a city council meeting in March. He is the first Russian elected representative to face prison for spreading “knowingly false information” about the Russian army.