Konstantin Kotov
Kotov in 2018
Born
Konstantin Aleksandrovich Kotov

(1985-02-22) 22 February 1985[1]
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union[2]
NationalityRussian
Occupation(s)Programmer, activist

Konstantin Aleksandrovich Kotov (Russian: Константин Александрович Котов; born 22 February 1985)[1] is a Russian software engineer and political activist.[3] In September 2019, he was sentenced to four years in prison for participating in unsanctioned protests and was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.[4] After a public outcry, his sentencing was reviewed and reduced. He was released from prison in December 2020.[5]

Biography

Kotov at the Russian State Library in a picket demanding for the release of Oleg Sentsov in 2019

Konstantin Aleksandrovich Kotov was born on 22 February 1985 in Moscow. He studied in higher education and worked as a programmer at the Semenikhin Research Institute in Moscow.[1][2][6]

Since 2016, Kotov has been known for his political activism and was an organizer of a picket in support of the imprisoned Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov in 2018.[7][8]

In August 2019, Kotov was detained at a protest and in September, was sentenced to four years in prison for participating in unsanctioned protests, a case he called politically motivated.[3][4] He was regarded by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience.[9] After a public outcry, President Vladimir Putin in January 2020 ordered the Prosecutor-General's Office to review the sentencing's legality and two days later, the Constitutional Court of Russia ruled that the case must be reviewed. In April, the Moscow City Court upheld the sentence but reduced Kotov's prison sentence to 18 months and his term was recalculated to include his time served in pre-trial detention (where one day equals 1.5 days served at a corrective colony).[4][5] In December, Kotov was released from prison upon completion of his prison term.[5]

Awards

In December 2019, Kotov was chosen by readers of Vedomosti as Person of the Year in the Private Individual category.[10]

In June 2020, Kotov was the winner of the Boris Nemtsov Prize for 2020 by the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom.[11]

In December 2020, Kotov was awarded the Moscow Helsinki Group Prize for courage in protecting human rights.[8]

Personal life

In October 2019, Kotov married Anna Pavlikova, his co-defendant in the New Greatness case, while he was being held at the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center.[12][13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Котов Константин Александрович". Memorial. 17 August 2019.
  2. 1 2 "4 года за 4 акции протеста. Апелляция на приговор Константину Котову". Mediazona. 14 October 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Russian Court Sentences Activist to Four Years in Prison". Human Rights Watch. 2019-09-05. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  4. 1 2 3 "Activist jailed for peaceful protest". www.amnesty.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  5. 1 2 3 "Russian Opposition Activist Kotov Released From Prison". RFE/RL. 16 December 2020.
  6. ↑ "Суд признал законным приговор программисту Котову за нарушения на митингах". RIA. 14 October 2019.
  7. ↑ "У приемной администрации президента задержали трех активистов бессрочного пикета в поддержку Сенцова". Novaya Gazeta. 21 December 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Лауреаты Премии МХГ – 2020". MHG.
  9. ↑ "Russia: Prisoner of conscience Konstantin Kotov will remain in jail". www.amnesty.org. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  10. ↑ "Персона года 2019". Vedomosti.
  11. ↑ "Konstantin Kotov is the winner of the Boris Nemtsov Prize 2020". Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom. 12 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "Фигурантка дела "Нового величия" и программист Котов поженились в СИЗО". РИА Новости (in Russian). 2019. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  13. ↑ Inc, TV Rain (2019-10-17). "Константин Котов и Анна Павликова поженились в СИЗО". tvrain.tv. Retrieved 2023-04-30. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.