{"id":60862,"date":"2025-09-12T15:04:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T12:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/news\/my-schitaem-politzaklyuchyonnym-sergeya-mamaeva\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T10:47:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:47:17","slug":"sergei-mamaev-is-a-political-prisoner","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/sergei-mamaev-is-a-political-prisoner\/","title":{"rendered":"Sergei Mamaev is a political prisoner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An activist from Yoshkar-Ola has been sentenced to two years and eight months\u2019 imprisonment on a charge of involvement in the \u2018Navalny Headquarters\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018Political Prisoners. Memorial\u2019 human rights project, in accordance with<\/strong> <\/strong>international standards<\/strong><\/a>, considers Sergei Mamaev a political prisoner. Mamaev was convicted on a charge of \u2018participation in the activities of an extremist organisation\u2019 for posts he published in support of Aleksei Navalny and for laying flowers in his memory. Mamaev\u2019s criminal prosecution and conviction violated his rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and fair trial. We demand the release of Sergei Mamaev and that all criminal charges against him be dropped.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is Sergei Mamaev and what are the charges against him?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sergei Mamaev, aged 45, is a civic activist from Yoshkar-Ola. He had no connection with Aleksei Navalny\u2019s organisations, but after the politician\u2019s arrest in 2021 he repeatedly expressed support for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Aleksei Navalny\u2019s birthday, 4 June 2023, Mamaev posted on the VK social media platform a photograph of himself wearing a T-shirt with the words \u2018Free Navalny.\u2019 The following year, after Navalny\u2019s death, he posted a photograph of flowers he had laid at the Memorial to Victims of Repression in memory of Navalny. On 17 March 2024, the day of the \u2018Noon Against Putin\u2019 protest, Mamaev published a photograph of a ballot paper with the word Navalny written on it, and on the 40th day after the politician\u2019s death, he posted another photograph of Navalny. These publications, along with two links to Navalny\u2019s channel, became grounds for charging Mamaev with involvement in the \u2018Navalny Headquarters.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 22 July 2025, Sergei Mamaev was detained. That same day, security officers searched his apartment and his dacha, and he was taken for interrogation to the Investigative Committee. He was then remanded in custody on a charge of \u2018participation in the activities of an extremist organisation\u2019 (Article 282.2, Part 2, of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 16 February 2026 Mamaev was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months of imprisonment in a general-regime penal colony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do we consider Sergei Mamaev a political prisoner?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An analysis of available materials that formed the basis for the decision by the Moscow City Court to designate Aleksei Navalny\u2019s organisations as extremist shows that the ruling was politically motivated and unlawful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, no evidence of actual extremist activity by these organisations was presented. Administrative and criminal cases against individual employees do not constitute such evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, regular official inspections of the organisations revealed no extremism in their activities, yet the court nonetheless treated the results of these inspections as confirmation of alleged extremist activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For these reasons, Mamaev\u2019s criminal prosecution is based on an unlawful decision by Moscow City Court and is politically motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, publishing social media posts in support of, or in memory of, a politician cannot be regarded as participation in any organisation. Such actions are not crimes. In any case, social media posts cannot lead to the resumption of the activities of the \u2018Navalny Headquarters,\u2019 which were unlawfully closed down by the Russian authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A detailed description of Sergei Mamaev\u2019s case and of our position is available on our website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can you help?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can write to Sergei Mamaev at the following address:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RU:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

425200, \u0420\u0435\u0441\u043f\u0443\u0431\u043b\u0438\u043a\u0430 \u041c\u0430\u0440\u0438\u0439 \u042d\u043b, \u043f\u0433\u0442. \u041c\u0435\u0434\u0432\u0435\u0434\u0435\u0432\u043e, \u0443\u043b. \u041c\u0435\u0434\u0432\u0435\u0434\u0435\u0432\u043e, \u0434. 1, \u0424\u041a\u0423 \u0418\u041a-3 \u0423\u0424\u0421\u0418\u041d \u0420\u043e\u0441\u0441\u0438\u0438 \u043f\u043e \u0420\u0435\u0441\u043f\u0443\u0431\u043b\u0438\u043a\u0435 \u041c\u0430\u0440\u0438\u0439 \u042d\u043b, \u041c\u0430\u043c\u0430\u0435\u0432 \u0421\u0435\u0440\u0433\u0435\u0439 \u041e\u043b\u0435\u0433\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0447, 1980 \u0433. \u0440.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EN: Sergei Olegovich Mamaev (born 1980), Penal Colony No. 3, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for the Republic of Mari El, 1 Ulitsa Medvedevo, Medvedevo settlement, Republic of Mari El, 425200, Russia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also send emails via ZT<\/a> (for payment with all bank cards), and Memorial-France<\/a> (free of charge).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please note that letters in languages other than Russian are highly unlikely to reach the intended recipient.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can donate<\/a> to help all political prisoners in Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-60862","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","regions-mari-el-republic","news-type-nashi-novosti-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSergei Mamaev is a political prisoner - Political prisoners support. Memorial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An activist from Yoshkar-Ola has been sentenced to two years and eight months\u2019 imprisonment on a charge of involvement in the \u2018Navalny Headquarters\u2019\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/sergei-mamaev-is-a-political-prisoner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sergei Mamaev is a political prisoner - Political prisoners support. 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