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Russian journalist Darya Shipacheva was convicted of treason by a Moscow court and sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in a penal colony, the Interfax news agency reported.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
29 July 2026 There is no further mention of him until 1841, when he was convicted of forging a check and again sentenced to transportation to a penal colony, this time from the Australian mainland to Van Diemen’s Land, now known as Tasmania.—Literary Hub,
10 July 2026 In May 1980, two Kharkiv air traffic controllers were sentenced to 15 years each in a penal colony.—
Colin Millar,
New York Times,
27 June 2026 Adapted from Chalandon’s novel about a brutal children’s penal colony on Belle-Île in the 1930s, the film follows a teenage boy fleeing institutional violence after a mass escape.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
17 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for penal colony