Russian Court Hands Famous Writer Boris Akunin a 14-Year Sentence in Absentia

The Second Western District Military Court in Moscow has sentenced renowned writer Boris Akunin (Grigory Chkhartishvili, who has been designated a "foreign agent, terrorist, and extremist" in Russia) to 14 years in a high-security penal colony — in absentia.

Akunin faced multiple charges: abetting terrorist activity, justifying terrorism, and violating administrative requirements related to the “foreign agent” label. The prosecution had demanded an 18-year sentence.

The case against him was built on posts published in his Telegram channel and a recorded conversation with the notorious Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus, who posed as Ukrainian officials.

From these sources, investigators extracted selected quotes, interpreting them as either justifying or supporting terrorism.

Akunin’s statements — such as saying that dictatorship in Russia cannot be overthrown without revolution, or his emotional commentary about the attack on the Crimean Bridge — were all interpreted as crimes warranting many years behind bars.

“For a long time, I was an evolutionist, but now I support revolution, because there’s no other way to get rid of dictatorship. There are no elections, and there never will be. The regime kills or imprisons its opponents. Yes, revolution is an explosion. But sometimes in history, you can’t clear away the debris except by an explosion,” Akunin wrote in one of his posts.

A particularly striking aspect of the trial was the questioning of witnesses. With the exception of a publishing house employee, none of them knew Akunin personally or had read his books.

Pensioner Natalya Kopylova openly admitted that she learned about Akunin’s views exclusively from television programs, especially those hosted by Vladimir Solovyov.

Akunin himself took no part in the proceedings.

The court-appointed defense lawyer merely declared his intention to prove Akunin’s innocence, but in practice showed no activity — he did not challenge testimonies, ask questions, or offer any arguments.

The writer, for his part, posted in his Telegram channel that he does not recognize the legitimacy of the Russian court.

“TASS, as is often the case, is lying. It’s not that I ‘do not admit my guilt’. I do not recognize their court. I did not authorize any lawyer to represent me at their so-called trial, and I am not participating in this farce at all,” Akunin wrote.