Sokolov Aleksei Veniaminovich, born May 24, 1973, resident of Yekaterinburg, citizen of the Russian Federation, human rights activist, has long been involved in protecting the rights of prisoners, head of the Legal Basis organisation. He was previously convicted on a fabricated politically motivated case and served a sentence under Part 3 of Article 158 ("Theft on a large scale"), paragraphs "a", "b", "g", "d" of Part 2 of Article 161 ("Robbery by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, with illegal entry into premises, with the use of violence not dangerous to life and health, on a large scale") of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Charged under Part 1 of Article 282.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Repeated public demonstration of extremist paraphernalia or symbols prohibited by federal laws", liable to up to 4 years in prison). He was imprisoned on this charge from July 5, 2024, to January 4, 2025, when he was released on his own recognizance due to the expiration of his maximum pretrial detention period.
He is charged under Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code ("High Treason," carries a sentence of up to life imprisonment). He was arrested on this charge and imprisoned from December 16, 2025.
