Natalya Sharina

Natalya Grigorevna Sharina (; born 13 July 1957) is the director of the Ukrainian Literature Library in Moscow. She was put under house arrest in 2015 under the charges of inciting ethnic hatred and spreading "anti-Russian propaganda". In 2016, Sharina was put on trial for disseminating banned literature and embezzling library funds. Sharina became the library director in 2011. Similar charges had been made against her in 2010, but they turned out to be baseless, and were dropped by the authorities in 2013.

On 2 November, Sharina was placed under house arrest and banned from speaking directly to journalists.

Her trial for disseminating banned literature classed as extremist and for embezzling library funds began on 2 November 2016. She pleaded not guilty and said that books had been planted in the library. On 5 June 2017 she was found guilty of inciting hatred to Russians and embezzlement. She received a four-year suspended sentence.

Reactions

The case was widely covered in Russian state-owned media. NTV television channel ran a short documentary in December 2015 alleging the library carried out the orders of the Ukrainian security services at the behest of the CIA.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry issued a note of protest, describing the investigation as "not the first attempt of the Kremlin's to put the labels of 'Russophobia' and 'extremism' on everything that's Ukrainian". Sharina was designated a political prisoner by Russian human rights organization Memorial. Human Rights Watch called for her immediate release. Amnesty International reacted to Sharina's conviction stating "The prosecution has exploited the highly charged anti-Ukrainian atmosphere that is prevalent in Russia at the moment, while the court simply dismissed key evidence for the defense".