Judge Oksana Demyasheva, who presided over the case against artist Sasha Skochilenko, has been identified in a document as a candidate for the position of deputy chairman at the Kalininsky District Court in St. Petersburg. The document, published on November 17, attributes the recommendation to the city’s board of qualification judges. The report notes that Demyasheva is the sole candidate under consideration for this leadership role.
There are claims that more than 100 medical professionals signed a petition urging President Vladimir Putin to consider a pardon or clemency for Skochilenko. The movement appears to underscore public concern over the case and its broader implications for free expression in Russia.
On November 16, in St. Petersburg, the Vasileostrovsky District Court sentenced Sasha Skochilenko to seven years in a general regime penal colony. He was convicted of disseminating false information about the Russian Armed Forces. The charges stem from an incident in March 2022 when Skochilenko altered five price tags in a St. Petersburg store, replacing them with stylized pages that described the progress of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in a manner not aligned with the official position of the Russian Ministry of Defense. The court ruled that the information circulated to the public constituted knowingly false statements about military use. The artist faced arrest and detention for about a year and a half before the verdict. In his remarks, Skochilenko described the criminal case as bizarre and humorous in nature, highlighting the tension between artistic expression and state narratives.
The case also touches on broader legislative debates in Russia regarding the treatment of foreign-backed organizations and the legal framework governing information about the armed forces. A former member of the State Duma expressed thoughts about potential amendments to the law, signaling ongoing discussions about how information and media activities by individuals and organizations might be regulated in the future. The developments have drawn attention to the balance between free speech, state security concerns, and the boundaries of permissible political commentary in contemporary Russia.