March 28 (Portal) – A Russian man under investigation by police after his daughter painted an anti-war picture at school was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in a penal colony for discrediting the armed forces.
But the whereabouts of the convicted Alexei Moskalyov was unclear. The court said in an official post on VKontakte, similar to Facebook, that he fled house arrest.
Moskalyov has been separated from his 13-year-old daughter Masha since he was placed under house arrest earlier this month and she was transferred to a children’s home in her hometown of Yefremov, south of Moscow.
The case has sparked an outcry among Russian human rights activists and sparked an online campaign for the father and daughter to be reunited.
Moskalyov’s lawyer, Vladimir Biliyenko, said he hadn’t seen his client since Monday and didn’t know if Moskalyov fled as he only had the spokesman’s testimony.
“To be honest I’m in a state of shock right now,” he told Portal.
He said the defense will appeal the verdict and Masha will remain in the children’s home for the time being.
Moskalyov was convicted for comments he himself posted online about the war in Ukraine. But the investigation began after Masha, then 12, drew a picture showing Russian missiles raining down on a Ukrainian mother and child last April, prompting the school principal to call the police.
The drawing showed a Ukrainian flag with the inscription “Glory to Ukraine” and a Russian tricolor with the slogan “No to war”.
Police began investigating Moskalyov’s social media activities, and he was initially fined 35,000 rubles ($460) for speaking critically of the Russian army. In December, investigators opened another case against him on suspicion of discrediting the armed forces, this time based on a social media post in June.
The banned Russian human rights organization Memorial said it considers Moskalyov a political prisoner.
Biliyenko visited Masha on Tuesday at the children’s home, which is officially called “Social Rehabilitation Center For Minors Number 5”, and brought drawings she made for her father. He was also allowed to photograph a letter she had written to him that read, “Dad, you are my hero.”
Shortly after invading Ukraine last year, Russia outlawed the act of discrediting the armed forces and imposed lengthy prison terms.
($1 = 76.5500 rubles)
Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Kevin Liffey
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Mark Trevelyan