BY HANK REICHMAN
I’m a historian of Russia by training, but I guess I didn’t realize that there’s apparently no double jeopardy rule, at least with respect to sentencing, in Russia. Turns out that I—and many others—celebrated too soon when back in December we learned of the release of renowned Marxist sociologist and university professor Boris Kagarlitsky after he paid a fine for “justifying terrorism” in comments he made about Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Today we discover that the Putin regime appealed that verdict and a military court has now sentenced Boris to five years in prison. Kagarlitsky, a professor at the Moscow Higher School of Economics and head of the Moscow think tank The Institute for Globalization Studies and Social Movements, had first been arrested by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) on July 25 of last year and imprisoned until his December trial.
Here are excerpts from the report published today in the Washington Post:
A Russian military court on Tuesday sentenced Boris Kagarlitsky, a prominent sociologist, to five years in prison for criticizing the war in Ukraine—a shocking turnabout after another court originally ordered Kagarlitsky to pay a $6,500 fine but no prison time.
The brutally toughened sentence was issued after an appeal from prosecutors, Russian state media reported, and it reflected a continuing harsh crackdown on the few dissident voices remaining in Russia after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Kagarlitsky is the editor in chief of the Marxist online publication Rabkor and a university professor who has been designated as foreign agent, a label Russian authorities have attached to many of those who have criticized the war.
The previous court ruling, in mid-December, found Kagarlitsky guilty of “justifying terrorism” for an online post about a 2022 attack on the Crimean Bridge, but levied only the fine as punishment. In many instances, defendants found guilty of criticizing the war now receive longer prison terms than those convicted of crimes such as rape or assault.
Prosecutors quickly appealed the verdict, arguing that it was “unjust due to its excessive leniency.” . . .
On Tuesday, in a post on Telegram, Kagarlitsky said that he was “in a great mood as always” after the new sentence was issued, and that he plans to continue collecting materials for new books, “including descriptions of prison life.”
“Anyway, see you soon. I’m sure everything will be very good,” he wrote. “We just need to live a little longer and survive this dark period for our country.” . . .
“This verdict is a blatant abuse of vague anti-terrorism legislation, weaponized to suppress dissent and punish a government critic,” said Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s director for Russia. “By targeting Boris Kagarlitsky, a distinguished sociologist known for his critical stance against government policies, the Russian authorities are showing, once again, their relentless assault on all forms of dissent.”
In my post after Kagarlitsky’s arrest last July, I quoted from an appeal to Western progressives he published last year, in which he said, “As a matter of principle, Russian courts do not pass down acquittals (in this regard, the situation is much worse than in Stalin’s time), so any accusation, even the most absurd, is considered proven as soon as it is brought.”
That appeal continued, “when someone tells you that the Putin regime is a threat to the West or to the whole of humanity, this is complete nonsense. The people to whom this regime poses the most terrible threat is (aside from the Ukrainians, who are bombarded daily by shells and missiles) the Russians themselves, their people and culture, their future. . . . Stop identifying Putin and his gang with Russia. Realize at last: those who want the good of Russia and the Russians cannot but be irreconcilable enemies of this power.”
Contributing editor Hank Reichman is professor emeritus of history at California State University, East Bay; former AAUP vice-president and chair of the AAUP Foundation; and from 2012-2021 Chair of AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure. His book, The Future of Academic Freedom, based in part on posts to this blog, was published in 2019. His Understanding Academic Freedom was published in October, 2021; a second edition is in preparation.
