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Russia targets former chess champion Garry Kasparov with terrorism charges
Russia’s Zamoskvoretsky District Court has issued an arrest warrant in absentia for former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, accusing him of publicly justifying terrorism. The decision, announced on December 22, follows a series of criminal proceedings against exiled opposition figures who have spoken out against President Vladimir Putin.
According to court documents, Kasparov faces charges under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of Russia’s Criminal Code, which covers public calls for terrorism and its justification online. If found guilty, he could face up to seven years in prison. The court also ordered a two-month detention period that would begin if Kasparov is detained in Russia or extradited.
A champion turned dissident
Once the world’s top chess player, Kasparov ruled the global chess scene for nearly two decades before retiring in 2005. He has lived in exile in New York since 2013 after being detained during a 2012 protest outside the Pussy Riot trial and warning of growing political repression in Russia.
This latest warrant adds to previous charges. In April 2024, a court in the Komi Republic issued a separate arrest warrant accusing Kasparov of creating and leading a terrorist group. Later, Russian authorities added him to the national register of “terrorists and extremists” and labeled him a “foreign agent.”
Anti-war activism under fire
Kasparov co-founded the Free Russia Forum and sits on the Russian Anti-War Committee, which the Prosecutor General’s Office has designated as an undesirable organization. In October, the Federal Security Service (FSB) opened criminal cases against members of the committee, including Kasparov and former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, alleging involvement in an attempted violent takeover of power and the organization of a terrorist community.
Authorities claim the group’s 2023 Berlin Declaration which called Putin’s government “illegitimate and criminal” demonstrates efforts to destabilize the state. Kasparov, however, has consistently defended his political activism as a lawful effort to promote democracy and oppose the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.
