On March 15, 2022, during a meeting of the Krasnoselsky Municipal District Council, Aleksey Gorinov said a few harsh words about the “special operation” and proposed to honour the memory of killed Ukrainians with a moment of silence. The meeting was being broadcast on YouTube, which provided grounds for accusing Mr. Gorinov of “public dissemination of false information”.

On the morning of April 26, 2022, Aleksey was detained and charged with “dissemination of false information using official powers” (article 207.3, part 2, sub-paragraphs a, b, and d). On the same day, April 26, law enforcement officers searched the building of the Krasnoselsky Municipal Council. They broke down the doors and seized all the technical equipment.

A similar case under article 207.3, part 2 was launched against Head of the Krasnoselsky Municipal District, Elena Kotenochkina. She was accused of entering a “criminal conspiracy” with Mr. Gorinov with a view to “discredit the Russian army”. By the time the criminal charges against her were laid, Elena had already left Russia. Ilya Yashin, a politician and a colleague of the defendants, believes that the Council members had been denounced by their “colleagues” from the State Duma (the lower house of the Russian Parliament).

Mr. Gorinov spent several months in custody in the “Matrosskaya Tishina” detention center. At the end of May, Aleksey complained about despicable conditions there. In his letter to Ilya Yashin he said that the cells were overcrowded, and the detainees had to take turns to sleep.

On July 8, 2022, the court found Aleksey guilty of “entering a conspiracy with a view to publically disseminate false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation using official powers and motivated by political hatred” (article 207.3, part 2, sub-paragraphs a, b, and d). For his “crimes” Mr. Gorinov was sentenced to 7 years in a regular security penal colony. Before the verdict was read, the audience in the courtroom applauded Aleksey. Dozens of concerned citizens showed up to support the first actual prisoner in the “anti-war” case.

"Memorial"* recognized Aleksey as a political prisoner.