Dmitry Regush is a political prisoner
A businessman from Moscow has been sentenced to three and a half years’ imprisonment for donating to Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation
The ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project, in accordance with international standards, considers Dmitry Regush a political prisoner. He was convicted on charges of financing extremist activities for donations to Aleksei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. His prosecution violated his rights to freedom of association and fair trial. We demand the release of Regush and an end to all criminal prosecutions related to funding the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
What are the charges against Dmitry Regush?
On 9 June 2021, Moscow City Court designated the Anti-Corruption Foundation, and other organisations founded by Aleksei Navalny, as extremist. The decision came into force on 4 August that year. The next day, members of Navalny’s team appealed to their supporters and launched an anonymous fundraising campaign using the Stripe service.
A year later, the first criminal cases became known. Since then, we understand that at least 91 people have been charged with financing extremism (Article 282.3, Part 1, of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Initially, the security forces were able to take advantage of a technical error on the first day of fundraising when some Russian banks received text markers indirectly indicating the purpose of the payments. Subsequently, the investigative authorities used information about the ID number of the payment recipient in an American bank, although its connection to the Anti-Corruption Foundation has not been proven.
As of today, at least 49 verdicts have been handed down. Most of the defendants received large fines; 13 were sentenced to terms of imprisonment.
On 30 August 2025, Dmitry Regush was remanded in custody in Moscow. He was charged with financing extremist activities (Article 282.3, Part 1, CC RF) for donating a total of 28,000 roubles to the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
On 2 December 2025, a Moscow court sentenced Regush to three years and six months of imprisonment in a general-regime penal colony.
Why do we consider the five accused political prisoners?
The decisions by Moscow City Court to designate the Anti-Corruption Foundation and Navalny’s headquarters extremist were politically motivated and illegal.
Firstly, no evidence of extremist activity by these organisations was presented. Politically motivated cases brought under administrative and criminal law against individual employees do not constitute such evidence.
Secondly, even regular inspections of the organisations by the authorities had not revealed any extremism in their work, although the results of these inspections were considered by the court to be confirmation of extremist activity.
The criminal prosecution of Regush, based on an unlawful decision by Moscow City Court, is therefore also politically motivated and unlawful.
Funding the Anti-Corruption Foundation should not be considered a crime. However, even if this were the case, the punishments that have been handed down in such cases are plainly disproportionate.
A detailed description of Dmitry Regush’s case and of our position is available on our website.
How can you help?
You can donate to help all political prisoners in Russia.
