Kremlin Critic Dies in Russian Custody Awaiting Treason Trial

Alexander Kondratov, 52, an imprisoned critic of the Kremlin, has died after being transferred to Botkin Hospital in Moscow. He had been awaiting trial on treason charges.

Kondratov was rushed to the hospital on Friday after suffering from an unspecified ailment, according to the rights organization Perviy Otdel. He was detained by border guards at Vnukovo International Airport on May 5 after arriving in Moscow to renew his passport. In August, he was charged with treason, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison for men in Russia.

His defense attorney, Natalia Tikhonova, stated that the charges were related to at least six online posts Kondratov had made. The nature of these social media posts is not known, but he was identified as a critic of the Kremlin.

Kondratov's death marks the 11th known case this year of an individual dying in Russian custody while awaiting trial on charges considered politically motivated. He was a production designer and had worked on the 2007 post-World War II detective program "Liquidation," for which he received two major Russian television awards. He had moved to Ukraine in 2012.

News of Kondratov's death comes as the trial of Ilya Remeslo, 43, a former pro-Kremlin activist, opened in Saint Petersburg. Remeslo, who had previously targeted Russian opposition figures, was arrested in July and charged with "spreading false information on the Russian army." This charge carries up to 10 years in prison under censorship laws enacted after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. Remeslo had testified against the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny and was considered a key figure in denouncing political opponents of the Kremlin. He recently denounced President Vladimir Putin as a "war criminal" and stated that Moscow's offensive in Ukraine was "solely to satisfy his ego."

Remeslo was sent to a psychiatric facility two days after his denouncement of Putin. In court, he pleaded not guilty to the charges, asserting that he was "being persecuted for criticising authorities, for my personal opinion" and was exercising his right to free speech.

Russia has seen a crackdown on dissent, with hundreds of thousands of people leaving the country after the launch of the war in Ukraine. Many of Putin's opponents are reported to be dead, in exile, or in jail. The Kremlin has also faced internal challenges, such as the 2023 march by Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin towards Moscow, who later died in a plane crash.