(Moscow) A father separated from his daughter for a drawing against the conflict in Ukraine has retained his parental authority over the latter, even if he has since been in prison, his lawyer announced on Friday, in this emblematic case of repression in Russia.
“The legal complaint to limit the parental rights of Alexei (Moskaliov) has been withdrawn, the case is closed,” said his lawyer, Vladimir Bilienko.
“Alexei will keep his parental authority”, he assured, thanking “all those who did not remain indifferent”, in particular the journalists, for having put pressure on the power in this story which shocked part of the public. Russian opinion.
Mr Moskaliov first came to the attention of authorities last year when his 13-year-old daughter drew a picture 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 discovered messages on social networks from the father criticizing the offensive.
Alexei Moskaliov, 54 and raising his daughter Maria alone in the town of Efremov, south of Moscow, was then prosecuted and sentenced in late March to two years in prison for “discrediting” the army.
A few hours before his sentencing, he had broken his house arrest and fled in an incredible way to Belarus, a neighboring country, where he was quickly arrested.
Last week, the specialized NGO OVD-Info claimed that he had been extradited from Belarus to Russia.
His lawyer, however, indicated on Friday that he had still not been able to locate Alexei Moskaliov, explaining that he had contacted a pre-trial detention center in Tula, south of Moscow, where his client should in principle have been transferred.
“I was told he wasn’t there yet. I don’t know where he is right now,” the attorney said.
Since the beginning of March, Mr. Moskaliov has been separated from his daughter who was initially placed in a home for minors and then, at the beginning of April, handed over to her mother.
