A Moscow court on Wednesday convicted Grigory Melkonyants, a co-chair of Russia's leading independent election monitoring group Golos, on charges of organizing the work of an "undesirable" organization. The Basmanny District Court sentenced the 44-year-old to five years in prison, a decision Melkonyants and his supporters decried as politically motivated.

Melkonyants, speaking from the defendant's cage after the verdict, remained defiant, telling supporters and journalists, "Don't worry, I'm not despairing. You shouldn't despair either!"

Golos, founded in 2000, has been a crucial watchdog, monitoring and exposing violations in every major Russian election. However, the organization has faced increasing pressure from authorities over the years. In 2013, it was labeled a "foreign agent," leading to heightened government scrutiny and carrying negative connotations. Subsequently, in 2016, the Justice Ministry liquidated Golos as a non-governmental organization.

Despite this, Golos continued its work without formal registration, documenting election irregularities. In 2021, it was added to a registry of "foreign agents" for unregistered groups.

The charges against Melkonyants stem from Golos's past membership in the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), which was declared "undesirable" in Russia in 2021. While Golos was not a member of ENEMO at the time of its outlawing, the prosecution argued that Melkonyants's prior involvement constituted a criminal offense under Russia's 2015 law on "undesirable" organizations.

FATE OF PUTIN'S CRITICS

Human rights campaigners say the case against Melkonyants is part of a wider crackdown on civil society that has intensified since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine in February 2022. Rights groups say more than 1,600 people are currently imprisoned on political grounds.

Aleksei Navalny  

Putin’s biggest critic, died in prison in 2024, while serving a 19-year sentence in an Arctic prison for “promoting extremism”. He was jailed in 2021 after returning from Germany, where he was recovering from a near-fatal poisoning attack.

Alexander Litvinenko  

Former Russian FSB spy and Putin critic was killed in 2006 after drinking tea that had been poisoned with polonium-210, a radioactive isotope.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky  

Some of Putin’s high-profile critics have been in exile for years. They include former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who spent a decade in prison after challenging Putin early in his rule.

Boris Nemtsov  

In 2015, the ex-PM was shot dead as he walked home across a Moscow bridge near the Kremlin.

Vladimir Kara-Murza  

The opposition leader was jailed in 2023 for 25 years for comments critical of the Kremlin and the military operation in Ukraine.

 Yevgeny Prigozhin  

Although not a critic of the Kremlin, the Wagner mercenary group founder fell foul of his ally Putin months into the Ukraine war.