Photo: RusNews

A septuagenarian activist has held a one-person picket in support of jailed Russian journalist Maria Ponomarenko in Novosibirsk, western Siberia, independent news outlet RusNews reported on Saturday.

Ponomarenko, who underwent a hunger strike in April to protest her “inhumane” treatment by prison staff, was convicted in February 2023 of “spreading fake news about the Russian army” and given a six-year sentence after posting about Russian military strikes in Mariupol on her Telegram channel.

In addition, Ponomarenko was given an additional term of one year and 10 months after being found guilty of “assaulting prison staff” in late March.

Vladimir Sukhov, 78, stood in Novosibirsk’s central Lenin Square, according to RusNews, and spoke out against the conditions of her imprisonment.

“The news about Maria Ponomarenko is as follows: so far nothing tragic has happened to her, she sends greetings to those who have had a role in her fate, and to everyone who is fighting for her release, for the revision of her case,” the activist said.

Sukhov, 78, has often staged one-man protests in Novosibirsk over the last year in support of Ponomarenko.

Speaking in January to Vita, an Italian magazine, he explained that his campaigns for Ponomarenko’s release are based on the idea of a “higher principle of humanity”, that has at times in Russian history given rise to legal amnesties.

“‘In the spring, little birds are released.’ I hope that even in our country, at least sometimes, justice could show a human face,” he said.

Although picketing alone is still legally permitted in Russia, police have disrupted one-person protests on multiple occasions, detaining protesters and charging some with “discrediting the Russian army” in the case of a war-related protest.