Former justice ministry worker sentenced to 14 years after anti-war letters

A former employee of the Ministry of Justice, along with her husband, left Russia and began sending anti-war letters to government agencies. For this, they received 14 and 16 years of imprisonment in absentia. The courts deemed these letters as "promoting terrorism." The entire family now lives in the United States, far from Vladimir Putin's regime.

In the summer of 2024, Russian courts sentenced former Ministry of Justice employee Maria Mamedova and her husband Denis to eight and eight and a half years in prison in absentia for spreading "fake news" about the military and to 14 and 16 years for "promoting terrorist activities." The reason was an anti-war letter the Mamedovs sent to government institutions in the fall of 2022 after leaving the country.

The BBC portal details their actions. Before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Mamedova worked as an accountant and then as a personnel officer, among other things, at Rostelecom and the Russian Post.

Both were interested in politics and especially attended rallies in support of Alexei Navalny. Shortly after the war began, in March 2022, Mamedova started working in the personnel department of the North Caucasus Forensic Center of the Ministry of Justice.

Initially, the Russian woman saw no contradiction between her oppositional views and working in a department linked to political persecution. She did not hide her views on the invasion and often argued with colleagues who told her that "they also opposed the war, but it was necessary."

As emphasized by the independent portal Meduza, September 2022 proved to be groundbreaking when her superiors ordered her to organize a fundraising campaign for the military. When she refused, she was threatened with "consequences," after which Mamedova resigned, and her family left the country.

It was a great decision for them, as a few days after they left, the police knocked on the couple's old apartment door. The family decided to cross through Mexico to the United States and apply for political asylum there.

This was not the end of the matter, as Maria and Denis Mamedov wrote an anti-war letter and began sending it en masse to offices throughout Russia. According to Mamedova, they wanted to show that not all Russians supported the war.

It took the family two months to reach the United States. They only managed to cross the American border on the fourth attempt.

Once in the United States, the Mamedovs continued their activities, writing complaints to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and other authorities, demanding an end to the war in Ukraine and that President Vladimir Putin be brought to justice.

In October 2023 - roughly a year after leaving - the Mamedovs were placed on the wanted list and arrested in absentia as part of ongoing proceedings concerning "fake stories" about the military. Six months later, another case was disclosed - "promoting terrorism," in which the couple was once again arrested.

In April, Denis Mamedov was sentenced in absentia to eight and a half years in a general-regime colony for "fakes." At the end of June, Maria was sentenced to 14 years in prison for "promoting terrorism."

At the beginning of July, Denis was sentenced to 16 years in a high-security colony on similar charges. Meanwhile, Maria was sentenced to eight years for "fakes."