The popular and controversial Russian journalist Alexander Nevzorov has been sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for spreading «fake news», writes Reuters.
The court said that Nevzorov was driven by political hatred when he accused the Russian army in a social media publication of deliberately shelling the Mariupol maternity hospital. If Nevzorov ever returns to Russia, he will be sent to prison; likewise, the journalist was denied the opportunity to publish content on the Internet in Russia for four years. The journalist and his wife already left Russia in March 2022.
Prosecutors demanded that Nevzorov would be sentenced to nine years in prison. The journalist replied that he believes that Russia would no longer exist in nine years.
He said he has no plans to return to Russia and that Putin is a dictator whose empire is based on dirt, blood, and denunciations.
Nevzorov became famous by creating the program 600 Seconds during the decline of the Soviet Union. He has now accepted Ukrainian citizenship.
Ever since the law that foresees prison sentences for «fake news» distributors came into force, Russia has been blocking internet resources that publish information that contradicts the Kremlin’s official position.
At a separate meeting on the 1st of February, the General Prosecutor’s Office made a decision to declare the Free Russia Forum undesirable, as it allegedly poses a threat to the security and constitutional order of the Russian Federation. The congress, whose leaders include former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, has held several meetings in Vilnius.
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