Armen Aramyan
Armen Aramyan, born 1997, Moscow. Charges: Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code (Dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, government…); “The case of Armen Aramyan regarding "fakes" about the Russian Armed Forces and public justification of terrorism”, opened on May 1, 2024. Sentenced on February 27, 2025; previously convicted under Article 151.2 part 2, Russian Criminal Code. Status: not in Russia. Recognition: Memorial Human Rights Centre — recognised as a political prisoner, May 10, 2021.
In brief
Moscow · Moscow · Journalists · Anti-war cases, Cases against "foreign agents", Cases related to mass actions
Sentence
10 years 1 month
Imprisonment (in absentia)
Upheld May 21, 2025
Other verdicts
- April 11, 2022 — 2 years of corrective labour and a 3-year ban on website administration
Charges
- Article 207.3 part 2 item d, Russian Criminal Code — Dissemination of false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, government agencies, or mercenaries (based on political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or on grounds of hatred or enmity in relation to any social group)
- Article 151.2 part 2, Russian Criminal Code — Involvement or public incitement of two or more minors to commit unlawful acts endangering their lives.
Latest event
May 21, 2025 — appeal
The court upheld the verdict.
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial Human Rights Centre, May 10, 2021
Timeline
· Appeal ruling
upheld
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 10 years 1 month
· Added to the Rosfinmonitoring list of “terrorists and extremists”
· Preventive measure: arrest in absentia
· Criminal case opened
The case of Armen Aramyan regarding "fakes" about the Russian Armed Forces and public justification of terrorism
· Cassation ruling
upheld
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial Human Rights Centre
· Persecution begins
DOXA editors' case of involving minors in activities dangerous to their lives
· Preventive measure: ban on certain activities
Criminal case
The case of Armen Aramyan regarding "fakes" about the Russian Armed Forces and public justification of terrorism
- Case number
- 1-79/2025
Thematic group: Anti-war case
DOXA editors' case of involving minors in activities dangerous to their lives
- Case number
- 01-0001/208/2022 (01-0035/208/2021)
Other defendants in the case
- Alla Gutnikova — Location unknown, 2 months
- Vladimir Metelkin — Not in Russia
- Natalia Tyshkevich — At large
Thematic group: Palace case
Details and sources
Full summary
Editor-in-Chief of the student magazine DOXA.
On April 14, 2021, he was detained after a search in connection with a case involving minors in activities dangerous to their lives. On the same day, the court imposed a preventive measure on Aramyan, prohibiting certain activities, which specifically prohibited him to leave his home for more than one minute per day. Later, the appellate court allowed Aramyan to go for walks for up to two hours a day. The investigation scheduled interrogations for him on all working days until the end of May.
On April 12, 2022, Aramyan was sentenced to two years of corrective labor, and the preventive measure was lifted.
In August, it became known that he had left Russia.
In May 2024, a criminal case was initiated against Aramyan on charges of spreading knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces and publicly justifying terrorism. In September, he was arrested in absentia. On February 27, 2025, Aramyan was sentenced in absentia to ten years and one month in a penal colony.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
- Preventive measures
- arrest in absentia
- Persecution episodes
- 2
Other people prosecuted under Article 151.2 part 2, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.