A Russian prosecutor on Monday requested a six-year prison sentence for Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the independent election monitoring group Golos.
Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023 and accused of organizing the work of an “undesirable organization.” He has pleaded not guilty.
Six years is the maximum sentence for the charge. Prosecutor Ekaterina Frolova also demanded that he be banned from public activity for 10 years.
Golos drew the ire of the Russian government after publicizing evidence of alleged fraud in the 2011 parliamentary election, which sparked opposition protests, and again in the 2012 presidential election that saw Vladimir Putin return to the Kremlin for a third term.
Human rights campaigners assert that the case against Melkonyants is part of a broader crackdown on civil society that has intensified since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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According to the rights group OVD-Info, more than 1,600 people are currently imprisoned on political grounds in Russia. The Kremlin has stated that it does not comment on individual cases but that Russia needs to uphold its laws and protect itself against subversive activity.
