Denied asylum in the U.S., imprisoned in Russia. Activist Leonid Melekhin gets 6 years for ‘justifying terrorism.’
A court sentenced Leonid Melekhin, a businessman and activist from Perm, to six years in prison for justifying terrorism, Mediazona reported.
The charges stemmed from a Telegram post and an online comment whose content is unknown. The post included a photograph of a sign that read: “Putin V.V. is a murderer, a fascist, a usurper. All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing/hang the fascist.”
In 2024, Melekhin left for the U.S., where he sought political asylum. He was sent to an immigration detention facility and denied asylum in the summer of 2025.
The news outlet Properm reported that Melekhin was later deported from the U.S. His court-appointed lawyer said he had returned to Russia through “self-deportation” despite knowing he could face criminal prosecution.
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