FILE PHOTO: Plastic letters arranged to read "Sanctions" are placed in front of Russian flag colors in this illustration taken February 25, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States issued sanctions on Tuesday against a Russian judge for her role in the detention of activist Alexei Gorinov over his comments opposing Russia's war in Ukraine, the Treasury Department said.
The Treasury Department said the judge, Olesya Mendeleeva, ordered the arbitrary detention of Gorinov, a human rights activist and former Moscow city councilor. She sentenced Gorinov to seven years in prison in July 2022 for voicing opposition to the war, it said.
"Known for handing down long and harsh sentences, Mendeleeva convicted Gorinov for knowingly disseminating false information about the Russian military, becoming the first judge in Russia to find a defendant guilty under for such a charge," the Treasury said in a statement.
Gorinov has suffered physical abuse and been denied medical treatment, the department said.
The first man to be jailed under Russia's war censorship laws, Gorinov was sentenced to three more years in a penal colony in November after being found guilty on new charges of "justifying terrorism."
"Russia's manipulation of its legal system silences dissent and suffocates the truth about Russia's indefensible war against Ukraine," said Bradley Smith, acting Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu)
