More than 100 Russian doctors have signed an open letter released this saturdayor that demands the immediate release of the artist and musician sentenced to seven years in prison for exchanging supermarket price tags for anti-war messages.
The letter calling for Sasha Skochilenko’s release is addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin and warns that time in prison could cause a “significant deterioration” in the 33-year-old artist’s health.
Skochilenko was “diagnosed with a number of serious chronic illnesses that require appropriate medical supervision and a special diet,” the letter states, going on to note doctors’ outrage at the “evident injustice of the verdict.”
A Russian court convicted Skochilenko on Thursday. She was arrested in her native St. Petersburg in April 2022 and accused of spreading false information about the military with her messages opposing the war in Ukraine.
“The Russian army bombed an art school in Mariupol. About 400 people were hiding there to protect themselves from the bombing,” read a replaced price tag. Another said: “Russian recruits are being sent to Ukraine. The lives of our children are the price of this war.”