“Network” («Сеть») was allegedly an anti-government anarchist organization active in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in 2015–2017. Its alleged "members" were arrested in 2017 and sentenced on February 10, 2020 by the Russian military court in

Penza Penza ( rus, Пе́нза, p=ˈpʲɛnzə) is the largest city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Penza had a population of 517,311, making it the 38th-l ...

to prison terms from 6 to 18 years. * Dmitri Pchelintsev — sentenced to 18 years in maximum security prison. * Ilya Shakursky — sentenced to 16 years in maximum security prison and a fine of 50,000

rouble The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

s (about $700). * Andrew Chernov — sentenced to 14 years in maximum security prison. * Maxim Ivankin — sentenced to 13 years in maximum security prison. * Mikhail Kulkov — sentenced to 10 years in maximum security prison. * Vasiliy Kuksov — sentenced to 9 years in prison. * Arman Sagynbaev — sentenced to 6 years in prison. The case of “Network” caused a wide condemnation in Russia, with many protesting against the trials and sentencing. Andrei Kolesnikov from the

Carnegie Moscow Center The Carnegie Moscow Center () was a Moscow-based think tank that focuses on domestic and foreign policy. It was established in 1994 as a regional affiliate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. It was the number one think tank in Ce ...

went on to label the story of the “Network” as “the return of Stalinist

Show Trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...

s”. According to

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

's representative, the organization itself had never existed; Amnesty International had previously expressed concern about torture and other ill-treatment used by FSB to extract confessions from the defendants.

Memorial Society Memorial ( rus, Мемориал, p=mʲɪmərʲɪˈaɫ) is an international human rights organisation, founded in Russia during the fall of the Soviet Union to study and examine the human rights violations and other crimes committed under Joseph ...

from Moscow also claimed that the whole case was fabricated and politically motivated, and designated the accused as political prisoners. "Network" is listed as a terrorist group in Russia.

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See also

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Further reading