Arseny Turbin
THE SCHOOLBOY WAS SENTENCED
TO 5 YEARS IN IMPRISONMENT
15-year-old schoolboy Arseny Turbin (city of Livny, Oryol region, Russia) was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of participating in the Russian Freedom Legion and distributing leaflets critical of Putin. On August 29, 2023, FSB officers came to search the apartment where Turbin lives with his parents. The student was suspected of participating in a terrorist organization. On September 5, the student was detained, and the next day he was placed under house arrest with the opportunity to attend the lyceum. On May 31, 2024, the preventive measure was changed to a ban on certain actions, human rights activists said.
According to investigators, Turbin, under the influence of opposition publications, “formed radical extremist political views,” as a result, in early June 2023, a 14-year-old student at that time wrote to the Telegram bot of the Legion of Freedom of Russia and filled out an application form for membership. The FSB believes that in this way the teenager joined the Legion, which is recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia. Allegedly, as a member of a “terrorist organization,” Turbin in June-July 2023 distributed leaflets “Do you need such a president?” in the mailboxes of neighbors.
Turbin himself admitted that he distributed leaflets, but claims that he did it on his own, and did not join the “Freedom of Russia” legion. Project “Support for political prisoners. Memorial" notes that in the email correspondence, which the prosecution cites as evidence, Arseniy writes only about the desire to "put up leaflets and fight Putin's propaganda", and not about the alleged intention to "arrive on the territory of Ukraine" or "commit sabotage at military and railway facilities." In addition, the investigation does not provide any evidence that the young man even filled out an application form to join the legion.
(According to materials from OVD-Info)