In the long tradition of states silencing those who dare to laugh at power, a Moscow court has sentenced comedian Semyon Slepakov — living in exile since 2022 — to 400 hours of community service he cannot serve, for Instagram posts that mocked Vladimir Putin without the required 'foreign agent' disclaimer. The punishment is less a practical sentence than a legal declaration: his speech was impermissible, and his homeland remains closed to him. Russia's foreign agent laws, once framed as transparency measures, have become instruments for prosecuting dissent across borders, reaching comedians in
Moscow court sentences exiled comedian Slepakov to community service for Putin parody
Slepakov was forced into exile and faces legal penalties in absentia, restricting his ability to return to Russia or engage publicly in his home country.