A Russian court on July 15 convicted Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen in absentia on sham charges of spreading “false information” about the war in Ukraine.
Gessen, who was born in Russia but is now based in the United States, has called out the actions of the Russian government since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. But according to a statement Gessen posted on Facebook, the charges were driven by comments Gessen made in a 2022 YouTube-based interview with Yuri Dud during which Gessen discussed the 2022 Russian atrocities in Bucha, a city outside of Kyiv where Russian forces brutally killed numerous civilians as well as prisoners of war.
According to the New York Times, where Gessen serves as a staff opinion columnist, Russia issued the charges in August and placed Gessen on a wanted list in December. The Basmanny District Court in Moscow handed down the ruling.
Responding to the conviction, Gessen issued a lengthy public statement in Russian, but according to a translated version of the text, Gessen said they consider the criminal accusations to be “illegal” and “unfounded.” Gessen reflected on their reporting about Bucha as well as other alleged abuses by Russian forces in parts of Ukraine that are or have been occupied by Russia. Based on their own reporting, Gessen believes Russian forces have committed war crimes in Bucha, Irpin, and other parts of Ukraine.
The criminal prosecution, Gessen said in the statement, amounts to a ban on journalism and an attempt to punish them for fulfilling their professional responsibilities.
“I am outside the Russian Federation, so the so-called court can ‘consider’ my case, ‘arrest,’ and ‘sentence’ me only in absentia,” Gessen wrote.
Gessen also discussed the war in Ukraine during a brief interview with Gay City News during the 2023 edition of Brighton Beach Pride, which placed a bright spotlight on the anti-LGBTQ policies of the Russian government.
“It is not an accident that there is a new influx of LGBTQ refugees coming in,” including from Russia, Gessen told Gay City News at the time. “There is a real connection between so-called traditional values in the name of which Putin is waging this genocidal war in Ukraine and the anti-gay laws in Russia and the anti-trans laws and anti-drag laws and bans in this country.”
Many others have faced trumped up charges in the midst of a crackdown on dissent in Russia — an issue that has worsened over the last decade, especially following the invasion of Ukraine. One of the most high-profile cases involved WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was arrested upon arriving in Moscow for offseason basketball in 2022 and faced a nine-year stint in prison before she was released in a prisoner exchange. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has been locked up in Russia since March of 2023 when he was arrested on espionage charges — which he and his employer have strongly denied.
