A court in the Russian Federation sentenced multi-time world chess champion Garry Kasparov, 62, to a prison sentence in absentia this Tuesday, December 23rd, finding him guilty of justifying terrorist acts through his criticism of the war against Ukraine.
“The court issued a precautionary measure against Kasparov, ordering his arrest in absentia, for two months, from the moment of his arrest in Russia, or his extradition to Russian territory,” declared the judge, quoted by the Russian news agency TASS.
Kasparov was accused of “publicly justifying terrorism in telecommunications networks, including the Internet”, an offense whose penalty could be effective imprisonment of between five and seven years.
The mythical chess player has lived abroad for more than a decade, but was added to Russia’s list of ‘foreign agents’ in May 2022.
In October, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) opened criminal proceedings against tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and other prominent Russian opposition figures, all in exile and founders of the Russian Anti-War Committee (ARC), including Kasparov, for “organizing a terrorist community” and “attempting to seize power.”
According to the FSB, Khodorkovsky and the other ARC founders “fund Ukrainian militarized groups ‘branded’ as terrorist organizations in Russia and allegedly recruit other individuals, then use them in plans to seize power in Russia by force.”
The ARC was founded on February 27, 2022, three days after Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine, with the stated aim of combating the “aggressive dictatorship” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been in power for a quarter of a century.