Ilya Yashin (an opposition politician) was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in Moscow on Friday. She is one of few Russian voices still willing to speak out against Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
After that, the judge will ban the 39-year old from posting any online content for four more days. He was told by the judge that he would be allowed to return his iPhone 11 after that.
Yashin thanked her from his glass cage. He smiled and said, “I appreciate your senses of humor.”
Putin claims that Russia will need to reach an agreement with Ukraine in the future – war news
It is not surprising that the verdict was rendered. Yashin, now declared a foreign agent in Russia by the court, made a strong closing statement to the judge on Monday. He stated that she knew he wasn’t guilty, and that he knew how much pressure he put on her.
He said he didn’t hold any grudge against her for her inevitable guilty verdict. “But it’s better to spend 10+ years behind bars as an honest person than to be silently ashamed for the blood shed by your government.”
The main offense in his eyes was publishing a YouTube video that documented the Russian army’s crimes in Bucha, Ukraine to his nearly 1.4 million subscribers.
The lengthy verdict was issued in the sped-up monotone typical of Russian judges and provided a summary of the many critiques Yashin had made against President Putin’s pernicious use propaganda and the “monstrous war” Yashin called.
Yashin was a friend and political associate Alexei Navalny. He is the most prominent person to be sentenced under the fake news legislation that was introduced in March following the invasion of Ukraine.
According to OVD-Info, it is the longest sentence under the legislation. However, 366 people have been jailed or fined for allegedly discrediting Russian armed forces.
As the verdict was read, Yashin’s father held onto his hands. Sky News spoke to him outside the court, saying that he wouldn’t break and that he would not break.
A small group of supporters shouted “Russia will Be Free”, the traditional slogan of anti-Putin rallies that Yashin and Navalny often led.
Putin was asked by Yashin to comment at a press conference held in Bishkek. “Who’s he?” He replied, before adding that it was not appropriate to question court rulings.
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