Konstantin Sereda is a political prisoner
A resident of Rostov has been sentenced to four years in a strict regime penal colony for attempting to join the Free Russia Legion
The ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project, in accordance with international standards, considers Konstantin Sereda a political prisoner. Sereda was convicted on a charge of preparing to commit treason for intending to fight on the side of Ukraine. Konstantin Sereda’s prosecution and conviction violated his right to a fair trial. We demand that his conviction be quashed and that all criminal charges against him be dropped.
What were the charges against Konstantin Sereda?
Konstantin Sereda, a resident of Rostov-on-Don, was 21 years old at the time of his arrest in 2022. According to the investigative authorities, in the summer of 2022 Sereda decided to join the Free Russia Legion and submitted an application to join the Ukrainian armed forces. On the instructions of the Free Russia Legion, Sereda then distributed leaflets and stickers with their symbols.
In order to reach Ukraine, Sereda travelled to Belgorod, but his attempts to cross the border there were unsuccessful. Not wanting to attract unnecessary attention from local residents, Sereda spent the night at the train station and bought tickets to different destinations every day ‘for the sake of secrecy.’ On 4 October 2022, security forces detained Sereda at the train station in Belgorod.
On 21 April 2023, a court in Belgorod found Sereda guilty of ‘preparing to commit treason’ (Article 30, Part 1, of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in conjunction with Article 275 CC RF). He was sentenced to four years in a strict regime penal colony.
Why do we consider Konstantin Sereda a political prisoner?
The charge against Sereda of preparing to commit treason by defecting to the enemy is unlawful.
If he had actually joined the ranks of the Ukrainian armed forces and been taken prisoner, he could not have been prosecuted for this. The only prohibited form of participation by a foreigner in hostilities is mercenary activity, but Sereda’s actions do not fall into this category. Still less would an alleged ‘preparation’ to engage in any such action be considered ‘mercenary activity.’
In international law, Russia’s military actions against Ukraine are illegal and criminal, while Ukraine’s actions in defending itself against Russian aggression are legal and justified. The offence of ‘defecting to the enemy,’ introduced into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the summer of 2022, is used by the Russian authorities as a repressive measure against those Russians who seek to help Ukraine defend itself personally.
A detailed description of Konstantin Sereda’s case and of our position is available on our website.
How can you help?
If you have information about Konstantin Sereda’s place of detention, please let us know by email at [email protected].
You can donate to help all political prisoners in Russia.
