(Moscow) Belarus has extradited to Russia a father separated from his daughter and sentenced to two years in prison after a cartoon criticizing the offensive in Ukraine, in a case that has become a symbol of repression, a specialized NGO announced on Wednesday.
Alexei Moskaliov, a 54-year-old father raising his daughter Maria alone and originally from Efremov, south of Moscow, had fled house arrest in late March, just before a court handed down a two-year prison sentence to him for having “discredited” the Russian military.
He was then arrested in Belarus, a neighboring country and ally of Russia.
“Alexei Moskaliov was extradited from Belarus to Russia,” said Russian organization OVD-Info, which specializes in tracking arrests and detentions.
Moskaliov’s lawyer, Vladimir Bilienko, told AFP that he could not immediately confirm the information from OVD-Info and that he did not know his client’s current whereabouts.
Mr Moskaliov first came to the attention of authorities last year when his 13-year-old daughter Maria drew a drawing in class showing Russian missiles heading towards a woman and child near a Ukrainian flag .
The director of the establishment had contacted the police, who then discovered messages on the father’s social networks criticizing the Russian offensive.
Since the beginning of March, Alexei Moskaliov has been separated from his daughter, who has been placed in a home for minors. Last week, authorities said the girl had been returned to her estranged mother.
Mr. Moskaliov also faces losing his parental rights in another trial.
Last week he was due to appear in a Russian court for a custody hearing of his child, but the court said he did not know his whereabouts. A new hearing has been scheduled for April 20.
