A Russian court has sentenced a Russian activist to 12 years in a penal colony since a security agent recorded conversations where the man expressed his intention to join the banned legion "Freedom for Russia" which supports Ukraine in the war.
The charges against activist Jevgenij Misjtjenko were based on a conversation recorded by a security agent who posed as a volunteer at a memorial for Boris Nemtsov, an opposition politician who was killed in 2015. Misjtjenko was one of the volunteers.
The activist has not confessed, and points out that "the evidence was obtained illegally". At the same time, he has not denied that he was in contact with the legion.
Moscow has sentenced thousands of people to prison terms or fines for condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine or for sympathizing with Kyiv.
Jevgenij Misjtjenko himself says that prison will not change his convictions.
I will come out and I will have the same conviction.
