Russian Opposition Activist Osipova Released From Prison

Taisia Osipova, a Russian opposition activist arrested in 2010 on drug charges she says were fabricated, has been released on parole after more than six years in prison.

The Other Russia opposition movement said on Twitter that Osipova had been granted early release and walked out of prison in the Tver region on February 28.

Osipova, 32, was arrested in November 2010 and sentenced to eight years in prison in 2012 by a court in her native city of Smolensk that convicted her of dealing drugs.

Osipova, her lawyers, and supporters contend that the case was fabricated in order to put pressure on her husband, Sergei Fomchenkov, a senior member of Other Russia.

In a 2012 resolution condemning Russia's use of its judiciary for political purposes, the European Parliament named Osipova as one of several opposition activists it said were being prosecuted because of their political views.