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The Military Court of Appeal has upheld the verdict against Andrey Shabanov in the case of “justifying terrorism” (Part 2, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code) and “calls to activities against state security” (subsection “v,” Part 2, Article 280.4 of the Criminal Code), report RusNews and SOTAvision.
The defence had asked for the actual prison sentence to be replaced with a fine. The lawyer reminded the court that the saxophonist has been officially recognised as having a second-category disability, and before his arrest he was supporting his elderly mother.
Shabanov has been diagnosed with a severe form of psoriasis and psoriatic ankylosing spondyloarthritis, which affects the spine. Because of his condition, he was unable to answer the judge’s questions standing up during the hearing.
Shabanov recounted that in two years on remand he had not received the full course of treatment prescribed by doctors:
“My fingers are already crooked! Can you imagine what that means for a musician? My neck is deformed, my spine, everything hurts. I don’t know how I’m supposed to endure this! The treatment written on paper has not been provided to me, only some measures halfway. Recently they gave me an IV but my kidneys hurt, I don’t know what to do.”
“My whole body is broken, all bent, my skin is sick, my joints are sick <…> I am not in a care home here. What awaits me in the years ahead? I think you need to have a little conscience to take a lenient approach to this issue, which is what I am asking you for,” he told the panel of judges.
According to RusNews, at Samara’s Remand Prison No. 1, where Shabanov is being held, he has been penalised for not being able to make his bed immediately in the morning due to joint pain.
In February 2025, the saxophonist was sentenced to six years in prison over his social media posts. Investigators claim he called for financing the Ukrainian armed forces, committing sabotage and joining the “Russian Volunteer Corps” (RDK) and the “Freedom of Russia” Legion. Shabanov’s support group insisted that the real reason for the prosecution was his posts criticising the authorities and anti-war statements.
The saxophonist has been held in a remand centre since March 2024 in Samara, a large city on the Volga river. He has said that, because of his illnesses and lack of treatment, he is “rotting alive” in detention. During one of the hearings to extend his remand he undressed to show the condition of his skin.
“I am rotting, rotting everywhere—legs, arms, my head. And you say I’m not. How can you not be ashamed? Have you ever suffered from this? Do you know what it’s like: blood and pus? You must have some sort of conscience,” he told the judge.
Shabanov was only given medicine and ointments after six months on remand—following media publicity. He was also taken to a prison hospital, but that treatment did not help him.