Russia jails dual US citizen for insulting army ribbon
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A man with a St George's ribbon on his weapon standing guard in Simferopol, on the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MOSCOW – A US-Russian man accused of mocking a patriotic ribbon associated with the Russian army has been jailed for 3½ years, the St Petersburg court service said on June 5.
Moscow made public criticism of its invasion of Ukraine simple acts of protest.
Prosecutors say Yuri Malev, who had been in pre-trial detention since December, made two social media posts insulting the St George’s ribbon in June 2022 and May 2023.
The first post was an image of the orange-and-black ribbon alongside an offensive caption, while the second was an image of a corpse with “instructions on how to wear the St George’s ribbon correctly”, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors charged him with “rehabilitating Nazism” owing to the ribbon’s links with the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II, and accused him of “expressing obvious disrespect for society and the days of military glory”.
“Malev pleaded guilty,” the St Petersburg court service said on Telegram.
St Petersburg City Court sentenced him to “3½ years’ imprisonment in a penal colony” and also banned him from using social media for 1½ years, the message added.
Several US citizens are now in Russian jails, including journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, and former US marine Paul Whelan.
Officials on both sides have suggested negotiations on prisoner swops are under way, but there have not been any major exchanges since American basketball player Brittney Griner was traded with arms dealer Viktor Bout
