A Moscow court on Friday ordered the arrest in absentia of exiled feminist activist Zalina Marshenkulova for “justifying” the killing of a pro-war blogger.
Russian investigators last month charged Marshenkulova with “justifying terrorism,” a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison, over an April 2023 Telegram post about the death of pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, who was killed in a St. Petersburg bomb attack.
In that post, she wrote that expressing condolences over Tatarsky’s death was “hypocritical.”
Moscow’s Perovsky District Court ruled Friday to place Marshenkulova in pre-trial detention for two months once she is detained or extradited to Russia. State media previously reported that law enforcement authorities believe the activist currently resides in Germany.
Marshenkulova responded to the news of her arrest in absentia on Friday by referencing a provocative 2019 Reebok ad that featured her and the quote: “Don’t sit around waiting for a man’s approval — sit on a man’s face.”
“No thanks, I’ll sit on a face for now,” she wrote in response to a pro-war blogger’s crude prison-related joke.