In Adygea, an 18-year-old schoolboy was convicted of high treason, writes the BBC.
The publication draws attention to the verdict, which the press service of the Supreme Court of the Republic reported on the 28th — to the department confirmed that the press release refers to 18-year-old Kevin Leake, who was sentenced to four years in a general regime colony.
The release states that from December 23, 2021 to February 8, 2023, “being disagree with the political course of the Russian Federation and the special military operation carried out by the Russian Armed Forces on the territory of Ukraine,” he observed and photographed military units in Maykop, and sent the photo “a representative of a foreign state.”
Several of Lik’s acquaintances confirmed to journalists that at the start of the war he was still a ninth-grader, but by the time the verdict was pronounced he had already become an adult. According to them, Kevin moved to Moscow in November 2022 to study at the best school: the teenager is the winner of several Olympiads. According to Lik's friend, he was detained in the summer.
The BBC draws attention to another oddity. The court release states that the student committed a crime before February 8, and the next day the Ministry of Internal Affairs opened an administrative case under the article of petty hooliganism against his mother — the woman allegedly swore in a public place and was arrested for ten days for this.
< p>In fact, administrative arrests on far-fetched grounds are often used to isolate a person if there are no other legal grounds.
In 2023, more than a hundred people in Russia became involved in cases of treason and espionage
“Usually such arrests are used to prevent a person from leave Russia — in this case, they could thus block the possibility of Kevin himself leaving, since for this he would need his mother’s permission, says Evgeny Smirnov from the First Department. — In addition, this is a convenient way to “fix” person, gain access to him, his things and equipment. Finally, it is possible that the FSB could suspect the woman herself of treason or complicity in such a crime.”
“Do not imprison a specific person , but to effectively intimidate the population.” What is considered treason in 2023