The 20-year-old Russian, who was beaten by the son of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov after being accused of burning a copy of the Koran, was sentenced today to three and a half years in prison in Chechnya.

Nikita Zuravel was accused of “hooliganism” and “violation of the right to freedom of conscience”, as well as “insulting religious sentiments”. His trial took place in Russia’s predominantly Muslim Caucasus republic.

The young man was found “guilty of the crimes for which he was charged (…) and will serve a sentence of three and a half years of confinement in a prison colony,” the court in the Chechen capital Grozny, where the trial was held, said in a statement.

The court pointed out in its announcement the great social impact this case had in Russia.

The young man was arrested in March and accused of burning a copy of the Koran in Volgograd, southwestern Russia. He was then transferred to Chechnya at the request of the local authorities.

His case became political when footage was shown showing Kadyrov’s son Adam, then 15, beating Nikita Zhuravelwho was then an inmate in prison.

Kadyrov said he was proud of his son. He was subsequently honored with a series of official distinctions from various Russian regions.

At his court hearing in November, Nikita Zhuravel confessed his guilt and made a self-criticismwhich is very common in Chechnya, which non-governmental human rights organizations believe is done under duress.

“In the context of my confinement, I read the Koran, study it, to realize to what extent I offended the feelings of the faithful”he said.

Kadyrov, a staunch ally of Vladimir Putin, has been accused of numerous human rights abuses in Chechnya.

He is an advocate of following a strict version of Islam and had condemned in the most indescribable terms the sketches of Muhammad published by the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which was the target of a terrorist attack in January 2015 because of these sketches.

Kadyrov is also a staunch supporter of Russian aggression in Ukraine. In October 2022 he stated that three of his sons, Ahmad, Eli and Adam, all under the age of 20, were sent to the front. They were received on their return to Chechnya with hero’s honors.