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On 19 September, the Gagarinsky District Court of Moscow arrested politician Leonid Gozman in absentia on new criminal charges, reports Novaya Gazeta Europe.

According to the case file published on the court’s website, Gozman is accused of justifying terrorism on the internet (part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code). The reason the case was initiated is not known.

In January, the politician was added to Rosfinmonitoring’s “terrorists and extremists” list, with his name marked by an asterisk. This indicates people being prosecuted under terrorism-related articles. However, up to this point it was not known under which specific article Gozman was charged.

In July 2024, the politician was sentenced in absentia to eight and a half years in a general regime penal colony in a case over spreading “fakes” about the Russian army (subparagraph “d” of part 2, Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code). Gozman was convicted over his posts on Facebook and Telegram.

  • Leonid Gozman left Russia in October 2022 after he was arrested twice in a row on charges of equating the actions of the USSR with those of Nazi Germany (part 1 and part 2, Article 13.48 of the Code of Administrative Offences). First, he was arrested for 15 days over a Facebook post in which he wrote that Stalin was worse than Hitler, and the NKVD more frightening than the SS. When this arrest ended, Gozman was detained at the exit of the detention centre on a similar charge. He was arrested for another 15 days over a post in which he said that SMERSH and the NKVD were no better than the SS and Gestapo.
  • In addition, in July 2022, criminal cases were opened against the politician and his wife regarding failure to declare a second citizenship (Article 330.2 of the Russian Criminal Code).
  • Since 2014, Gozman has spoken out against Russia’s actions in relation to Ukraine. In May 2022, he was declared a “foreign agent.”