Left-wing critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin Sergei Udaltsov was sentenced by a Moscow court to six years in prison and found guilty of justifying terrorism.
The sentence was one year less than the seven years that prosecutors had demanded. Shortly before the sentencing, Udaltsov said that if he was found guilty, he would begin an “indefinite hunger strike to death.”
After the verdict, the opposition publication Meduza quoted him as saying: “A shameful decision. I hope everyone who took it will be held accountable. Damn you dogs. I wish this for you with all my heart.”
Udaltsov, whose wife Anastasia works in the State Duma for the Communist Party, supports Russia's war against Ukraine but is considered a critic of Putin.
According to Meduza, Udaltsov’s accusation is related to his article “How Marxists were turned into terrorists.”
In it, he expressed support for another group of Russian activists accused by the domestic intelligence agency FSB of creating a terrorist organization.
Earlier this month, the activists were sentenced to 16 to 22 years in prison by a military court.
Udaltsov was a prominent leader of the Russian protest movement from 2011 to 2013, which opposed Putin's return to the presidency.
In 2014, Udaltsov was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on charges related to his role in organizing demonstrations against Putin that turned into riots. He was released in 2017.
