Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation Mariana Katsarova. UN Independent Expert: Russia Should Immediately Release Buyanova, Arrested for Anti-War Position Human Rights
An independent UN expert has condemned a Moscow court’s decision to sentence 68-year-old pediatrician Nadezhda Buyanova to five and a half years in prison for “anti-war” statements made during a private medical consultation.
Buyanova was convicted, as stated in the official document, for “public dissemination, for political or ideological reasons, of knowingly false information about the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation.”
“The conviction of a doctor for an unsubstantiated comment made in private in the course of her professional duties is mind-boggling,” said Mariana Katsarova, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation. “The hasty trial, based largely on the testimony of a seven-year-old child, is yet another example of Russia’s judicial farces, where people are prosecuted solely for their anti-war stance.”
The case was brought following a complaint filed in January 2024 by the boy’s mother, who accused Buyanova of making offensive statements about the boy’s father, a Russian soldier killed in the war in Ukraine. The widow claimed that Buyanova called her husband a “legitimate target for the Ukrainian army” and noted that “Russia itself is to blame” because it is the aggressor.
“The court apparently relied on a pre-trial interview with a seven-year-old child, whose account raises suspicions about the credibility of his testimony. The court did not allow the child to be cross-examined, which calls into question the fairness of the trial,” Katsarova’s statement said.
According to the Special Rapporteur, Buyanova denied the accusations against her, and in response to the accusation that she “hates Russians,” she said the following: “I am related to three Slavic peoples: Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian. And what should I do, which people should I choose? This is impossible, I can’t, and I don’t want to.”
Katsarova noted that even if Buyanova’s statements were confirmed, expressing one’s opinion, especially in a private conversation, is not a crime according to international standards.
Buyanova’s case has outraged the medical community: more than 1,000 doctors have signed an open letter demanding the doctor’s release, according to the UN Special Rapporteur’s statement.
“This case highlights a widespread and systematic crackdown on peaceful anti-war discourse, with human rights defenders, political opposition and ordinary citizens being targeted for expressing opinions that contradict state narratives,” Katsarova said. She said there are currently between 1,372 and 1,700 political prisoners in Russia, many of whom were convicted for their anti-war stance.
In her report to the UN Human Rights Council in September this year, the Special Rapporteur called on the Russian government to stop using the justice system for political purposes to silence civil society and dissenting voices. Katsarova’s report calls for the immediate release of all political prisoners.
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“The Buyanova case is another landmark case in the Russian Federation. This is yet another attempt to silence critics of the war and intimidate the Russian people. The Russian authorities must immediately release Buyanova and drop all charges against her. “There is an urgent need to repeal laws that suppress freedom of speech, including ‘military censorship’ laws,” Katsarova said.
Special Rapporteurs are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organization. They serve in their individual capacity and do not receive a salary for their work.