Russian artist Alexandra Skochilenko smiles as she is escorted by police officers prior to her verdict hearing at a court in Saint Petersburg on November 16, 2023. © Olga Maltseva, AFP
A Russian court on Thursday sentenced artist Alexandra Skochilenko to seven years in prison for spreading "false information" about the army after she swapped supermarket price tags with slogans criticizing Russia's offensive in Ukraine.
The 33-year-old, known as Sasha, is the latest among thousands of Russians to be detained, jailed or fined for speaking out against Moscow's military intervention.
Supporters shouted "shame" and "we're with you Sasha" after the judge, Oksana Demiasheva, read out the verdict, an AFP journalist in court reported.
Some, mainly young people, pulled out banners saying "she should not go to prison", while her lawyers left without giving any comment.
Skochilenko wore a colorful T-shirt with a large red heart printed on it. She made a heart shape with her hands and smiled to supporters during the hearing.
"Every person in this room wants only one thing: Peace. Why fight?" she said in a closing statement.
Skochilenko had said in an earlier hearing that she "just wanted to stop the war. That was my motivation".
"It's not Sasha who should go to prison, but the people who convicted her," 20-year-old Anton, who declined to give his full name, citing security concerns, told AFP after the verdict was announced.
One of the messages included claims about a Russian strike on a theatre in Mariupol that was reported to have left hundreds dead.
"The cost of this war is the life of our children" and "Putin has been lying to us from television screens for 20 years" were written on other tags.
An elderly shopper reported the swapped tags to police.
(AFP)