Rostov activist Anastasia Shevchenko is the first person to be investigated under new laws banning Russian citizens working for “undesirable” organisations - foreign or non-governmental institutions that have been deemed by the Russian government that "pose a threat to the basic values of the Russian state".
Shevchenko was placed under house arrest in January 2019. Shortly after arrest, her daughter Alina died after being hospitalised into intensive care - she had previously been in a special needs boarding school. In January this year, it was revealed that local investigators had installed a surveillance camera in Shevchenko’s bedroom and recorded her over a period of several months.
More than 12 months later, Shevchenko is still under house arrest. A court recently softened the restrictions on Shevchenko, permitting two hours of exercise per day and conversations with anyone aside from witnesses in her case. But this good news was overshadowed by the fact that prosecutors confirmed their case against her, and Shevchenko now faces up to six years in prison. A member of Open Russia, she has been charged with working for an Open Russia organisation in the UK that does not exist.
