Russia: Prosecution Proposes 9-Year Imprisonment for Imprisoned Dissident Ilya Yashin – Opposed to War in Ukraine

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“The prosecutor requested that he be deprived of his freedom for 9 years,” supporters of Yassin said in a message on social networking sites.

The Russian prosecutor’s office requested on Monday that he be sentenced to 9 years in prison the imprisoned dissident Ilya Yashin, who is on trial for criticizing the war in Ukraine.

“The prosecutor requested that he be deprived of his freedom for 9 years,” supporters of Yassin said in a message on social networking sites.

The court’s verdict is expected on Wednesday.

The 39-year-old activist was arrested in June and charged with “spreading false information” about the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine and “inciting hatred”, an offense punishable by 10 years in prison. He allegedly denounced on YouTube “the killings of civilians” by the Russian military in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv.

Despite his imprisonment he did not stop criticizing the authorities and denouncing the military intervention in Ukraine. In early November he accused judges of being “servants” of power and giving President Vladimir Putin “a sense of impunity”.

Yashin is being prosecuted under articles of the criminal code introduced after the invasion of Ukraine that prohibit “defaming” the military or “publishing false information” about the armed forces.

These articles are very vague and their scope is huge. Critics of the Kremlin see it as a “toolbox” to crack down on all critical voices.

Yasin was a close associate of the opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered in 2015 but also his Alexei Navalnywho has been in prison since 2021.

RES-EMP

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