Mesk, now 19, was found guilty on Tuesday with activists for hanging a protest poster and placing pink watercolor at the entrance to the Public Prosecution Office in August 2020. For the next two years and two months, it will remain so. She is allowed to leave her hometown of Voskresensk – a town outside of Moscow – that is not deserted and must be home between 10 PM and 6 AM.
Critics of President Putin share her closing speech in court as a pamphlet against intense repression by the authorities. Messick defended her choice to protest the “fascist regime”: “She made the right decision and the right choice always has dire consequences in a totalitarian state.”
On appeal
Restriction of freedom is a moderate penalty compared to prison sentences imposed on peaceful protesters in recent months. But Messick does not accept the conviction, which she says is the result of her behavior in which she read the constitution: her lawyer announced that she will appeal.
For the past nine months, Misk has had to adhere to the restrictions of freedom pending the verdict. So her studies at the prestigious Moscow State University came under pressure.
