Stephen James Hubbard
Stephen James Hubbard, born 1952, Moscow. Charges: Article 359 part 3, Russian Criminal Code; “Stephen James Hubbard's case”. Sentence (October 7, 2024): 6 years 10 months' imprisonment in a general regime colony. Status: imprisoned. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, March 20, 2025.
In brief
Moscow · Moscow · Pensioners
Sentence
6 years 10 months
imprisonment in a general regime colony
No information about an appeal ruling.
Charges
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation, "during the period until 2 April 2022, participated as a mercenary in the armed conflict of non-international character in the south-east of Ukraine for monetary reward and other material support, having signed a contract with the territorial defence battalion of Izyum, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. According to the contract, for participation in the armed conflict he received a monthly monetary reward in the amount of 1,000 USD".
Latest event
March 20, 2025 — recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, March 20, 2025
Timeline
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 6 years 10 months
· Persecution begins
Stephen James Hubbard's case
Criminal case
Stephen James Hubbard's case
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Details and sources
Full summary
Since 2014, he lived in Izium (Kharkiv region of Ukraine). On 2 April 2022, he was detained by the Russian military. On 29 May, a video was published in which Hubbard says that after encountering the Russian military, he changed his attitude towards war, after which he retells some theses of Russian propaganda. Hubbard has been accused of mercenarism, although there is no evidence that he fought as part of the Ukrainian armed forces. Ukrainian military officer Igor Chichko, who was imprisoned with him in the Bryansk and Vladimir regions and was released in May 2024 as part of the exchange, said that the American was beaten, humiliated and starved. According to Chichko, Hubbard told him how he was tortured with electric shocks. (It is not known how Hubbard ended up in a colony in the Vladimir region before his sentencing.) On 7 October 2024, a court in Moscow sentenced the American to six years and ten months in a general regime colony.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- USA
Other people prosecuted under Article 359 part 3, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.