On 30 March 2015, Aleksandr Byvshev, a schoolteacher from Russia's Oryol region, went on trial, accused of 'extremism' for writing a poem opposing the annexation of Crimea one year ago.
If Byvshev is found guilty, he could face a four year prison sentence. But that is not his only problem. After a denunciation on national TV by the chair of the Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, Byshev has not only been pilloried in the press, but has even received a death threat in the mail. Indeed, as the propaganda machine whips up accusations of conspiracy and treachery, Byvshev has acquired all the hallmarks of a pariah. But as Byvshev's trial goes ahead (with significantly less press coverage) in a small town just south of Oryol, there's room for hope – and despair – when it comes to justice in Russia.
'Sabotage against Russia'
Aleksandr Byvshev lives in the village of Kromy (pop. 6,838) in the region of Oryol, in the southwest of European Russia. If you believe Wikipedia, Byvshev, the author of three published poetry collections, is the only famous person ever to be born there.
