Court upholds sentence of 420 hours of compulsory labour against Lev Shlosberg in “foreign agent label” case
Press Release, 22.04.2026
Photo: Lev Shlosberg / Photo by the Pskov Yabloko Press Service
A judge of the Pskov Regional Court upheld, by appellate ruling on 22 April, the sentence handed down on 5 November by a magistrate judge, who had sentenced Lev Shlosberg to 420 hours of compulsory labour. Lev Shlosberg, Yabloko Deputy Chairman, was found guilty of retaining five other people’s videos on his personal VKontakte page. This is the first such case in Russian judicial practice.
Today, Lev Shlosberg delivered his final statement in court. The judge then retired to issue her ruling — a process that took less than half an hour, according to the activists of the Pskov branch of Yabloko.
The sentence was upheld despite an extensive list of violations set out in detail by Shlosberg’s defence — lawyer Vitaly Isakov and counsel Vladimir Danilov — at the previous hearing.
Lev Shlosberg and his defence team intend to appeal the ruling before a cassation court.
Posted: April 22nd, 2026 under Freedom of Speech, Governance, Human Rights, Judiciary, Yabloko's Regional Branches.