Russian human rights defenders propose European Parliament swaps legislator Gorinov imprisoned for his anti-war stance for Russians detained in Europe for espionage

The authors propose exchanging Gorinov for, for example, editor-in-chief of Sputnik Lithuania Marat Kasem arrested on espionage charges in Riga on 3 January.

Head of the action group Lev Ponomarev said, talking to Novaya-Europe’s correspondent, that the swap would most likely be unequal — the Russian side could demand dozens of people in exchange for Gorinov.

“In the war in Ukraine, people are killing each other, but nevertheless, they find opportunities to swap POWs. There are people that Russia obviously wants to have back. We don’t have any doubts — there are dozens, if not hundreds, of people detained for espionage. <…>

“In this letter we are, of course, highlighting Alexey’s case. But if the first exchange takes place, then we can consider a second and a third one,” Ponomaryov added.

In January, 34 members of the European Parliament wrote a letter in support of Gorinov.

“You are not forgotten and you are not alone in your righteous fight to free the people of Russia and the rest of the continent from the terrors of war. Your vigour encourages us to unite and continue amplifying your voice until the children of Ukraine are safe and Russia is free and peaceful,” the letter read.

In July 2022, Gorinov was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment; later on, the Moscow City Court reduced his sentence by one month. According to the prosecution, Gorinov and head of Moscow’s Krasnoselsky municipal district Elena Kotenochkina allowed themselves to make a series of remarks “containing incorrect information about Russia’s Armed Forces” during a hearing of the local deputy council on 15 March.

Gorinov referred to the “special military operation” as “war” and talked about deaths of Ukrainian children. The state prosecution thinks that these remarks contradict the official information released by Russia’s Defence Ministry.