Russian repercussions of anti-Putin Snow Revolution

Eight people, tried in the largest Russian political trial of the past half-century, were jailed last week having been held for protesting the seemingly endless presidency of Vladimir Putin, writes Masha Gessen

EIGHT people were sentenced in a Moscow court on Friday, February 21, to between two-and-a-half and four years in prison. They are the first of two groups to be tried in the largest Russian political trial of the past half century.

All were charged with attacking policemen during a march on May 6, 2012, the protest that ended Russia’s short-lived Snow Revolution. Their case is emblematic of the current Russian crackdown on dissent: The defendants seem to have been chosen almost at random to dissuade people from protesting.