Russia: Pardon for woman sentenced to 7 years in penal colony for SMS

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the pardon of a 46-year-old woman sentenced to seven years in prison for sending an SMS message to an acquaintance from Georgia about the location of Russian military equipment, Reuters reports, carried by Patria.

The presidential decree, published by the Kremlin, states that Oksana Sevastidi, convicted and imprisoned for treason in March 2016, will be released from serving the remainder of her sentence, in accordance with humanitarian principles.

Sevastidi was found guilty of treason after sending a text message describing the movement of a train carrying Russian military equipment near the border with the Georgian region of Abkhazia, shortly before the 2008 war.

Oksana Sevastidi's mother, Svetlana, told the Russian daily MK that the message was sent to a man Oksana had met only twice, and whom Svetlana had not been able to contact since. The mother also stated that Oksana was not significantly interested in politics, although she was a member of the ruling Russian party United Russia.

Svetlana described the communication flow:

Man: Oksana, are there tanks on the platform?

Oksana: There were earlier, but I don't know now.

The case has been criticized by human rights groups, and the local group Memorial designated Sevastidi as a political prisoner. The Memorial group, to which Sevastidi turned for help, stated that Sevastidi was found guilty under Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to answer questions about whether Sevastidi had requested a pardon or admitted guilt.

President Putin had promised last December to resolve her case, calling the court's decision "too harsh."

- She wrote what she saw, what everyone saw, so it couldn't be any big secret, Putin said.

The pardon will become legally binding five days after its publication.