Amnesty calls on Russia to drop 'shameful charges' against writer Akunin

Russian writer Grigori Chkhartishvili, best known under his pen name Boris Akunin, has been accused of “disseminating false information about the Russian Armed Forces” and “justifying terrorism” with Amnesty International calling Russia’s treatment of the London-based writer “shameful”.

On 18th December, Russia’s Investigative Committee announced the initiation of a criminal case against Boris Akunin, who has been residing outside Russia since 2014, on charges of “justifying terrorism” and “disseminating knowingly false information about the Armed Forces”. A day earlier, Rosfinmonitoring, Russia’s financial regulator, included Akunin on the list of “terrorists and extremists”.

The author has been targeted because of his criticism Moscow’s war in Ukraine, the Guardian reported. The London-based author said “terrorists declared me a terrorist”.

Following the announcement of the charges, Moscow’s largest bookshops removed Boris Akunin’s books from shelves, while major online stores such as Wildberries and Litres e-bookstore almost completely removed his works from its platforms. The Moscow Gubernsky Theatre has ceased performing Akunin’s “The Adventures of Fandorin”, a play based on his series of adventure novels.

On 19th December, law enforcement agents raided the Zakharov publishing house, which owns publishing rights to many of Akunin’s books, confiscating all editions held at the premises, Amnesty said. Irina Bogat, the publishing house’s director, commented “obviously, this is due to the fact that we are the only ones who did not withdraw Akunin’s books from sale".

Amnesty International has responded to the criminal case against him. The charity’s international’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Marie Struthers, said: “The Russian authorities’ ongoing persecution of Boris Akunin and this unfounded criminal case exemplifies their sheer vindictiveness against anyone who dares to express dissent.

"In a matter of days, his books were withdrawn from sale, a play based on his work was removed from a theatre, and the police raided the only publishing house that continued to collaborate with him.

“All this is in reprisal for Boris Akunin’s vocal opposition to Russia’s war with Ukraine, and he is not the only victim of such campaigns. Many others, including artists, performers, musicians and filmmakers have found themselves persecuted and isolated from Russian cultural life simply due to their opposition to the war.

“These shameful charges must be dropped immediately and the campaign to denigrate and persecute cultural figures who oppose the war must be stopped.”

Akunin has been shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger and his books include the Erast Fandorin Mysteries (published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK).

The Bookseller has contacted W&N for comment.