Russian pop star Monetochka is sentenced in absentia to one year in prison for skipping ‘foreign agent’ disclaimers on Instagram
A Moscow magistrate sentenced singer Monetochka (Elizaveta Gyrdymova) in absentia to one year in a penal colony for evading the obligations of a “foreign agent,” the independent Russian news outlet Mediazona reports.
The court also banned Gyrdymova from managing websites for three years.
The case was heard in a single day. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of one year and 10 months.
Russia’s Justice Ministry designated Gyrdymova a “foreign agent” in January 2023. In June and August that year, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow imposed two fines of 30,000 rubles each for posts published without the “foreign agent” disclaimer.
The trigger for the case against Gyrdymova was the absence of a “foreign agent” disclaimer on her Instagram posts. Shortly afterward, she was placed on Russia’s wanted list and arrested in absentia.
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