Maksim Voronovsky is a political prisoner
A Navalny supporter from Magnitogorsk was charged with calling for people to engage in terrorism and subjected to compulsory psychiatric treatment
The ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project, in accordance with international standards, considers Maksim Voronovsky a political prisoner. Voronovsky has been charged with calling for people to engage in terrorist activity and with publicly justifying terrorism in comments he posted in a Telegram chat. Voronovsky’s criminal prosecution violates his rights to freedom of expression and fair trial. We demand his immediate release and that all criminal charges against him be dropped.
What were the charges against Maksim Voronovsky?
Maksim Voronovsky, an activist from Magnitogorsk, was detained in September 2021 but released following an ‘interrogation.’ The next day, the law enforcement authorities released a video in which Voronovsky apologised for publishing personal data of a staff member of the Centre for Combating Extremism in January 2021 in a Navalny supporters’ chat.
On 31 March 2022, Voronovsky’s home was searched, and he was detained and remanded in custody on charges of calling for people to engage in terrorist activity and publicly justifying terrorism (Article 205.2, Part 2, of the Russian Criminal Code). The basis for the charges was comments he posted in a Telegram chat in September 2021. The first concerned news about a student who had shot six people at Perm University: ‘…well, he could have shot up cops, FSB, or the headquarters of the party of crooks and thieves, but why the university?’ Another comment concerned a post about the suicide bombing of the FSB headquarters in Arkhangelsk by the anarchist Mikhail Zhlobitsky, in which Zhlobitsky was called ‘a hero of our time.’ Voronovsky himself stated that he did not publish these comments.
A medical commission found Voronovsky of unsound mind. On 22 February 2023, a military court absolved him of criminal responsibility and sent him for indefinite compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital.
Why do we consider Voronovsky a political prisoner?
The charge of justifying terrorism is often used by the authorities to persecute dissenters. In our view, the comments attributed to Voronovsky do not contain calls to engage in terrorist activity or assertions of the legitimacy of such activity.
Compulsory psychiatric treatment should only be applied in cases where an individual has committed an act that poses a danger to society. We believe that the posts attributed to Voronovsky pose no real danger to society.
In our view, the comments attributed to Voronovsky were not the real reason for his prosecution; rather, he was prosecuted because he was an active supporter of Navalny and published the personal data of a staff member of the Centre for Combating Extremism.
A detailed description of Maksim Voronovsky’s case and of our position is available on our website.
Recognition of an individual as a political prisoner does not imply the ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project agrees with, or approves, their views, statements, or actions.
How can you help?
You can write to Maksim Voronovsky at the following address:
In Russian:
455021, Россия, Челябинская область, г. Магнитогорск, ул. Рабочая, д. 53, ГБУЗ Областная психоневрологическая больница № 5, Вороновскому Максиму Геннадьевичу 1995 г. р.
In English:
Maksim Gennadievich Voronovsky (born 1995), Regional Psychiatric Hospital No. 5, 53 Rabochaya Street, Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, 455021, Russia.
Please note that letters in languages other than Russian are highly unlikely to reach the recipient.
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