The Meshchansky District Court of Moscow found politician Ilya Yashin guilty on charges of spreading "fake news" about the Russian army (clause "d" part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This is reported by TASS with reference to its correspondent from the courtroom. The reason for initiating a criminal case was Yashin's stream about the crimes of the Russian military in Bucha, which he hosted on YouTube in April.
The prosecutor insists on 9 years in a penal colony, and the politician should also be banned from using the Internet for several years after serving the term.
Earlier, the prosecutor requested for Yashin 9 years in prison in a penal colony. On December 6, during the court session, he stated that the politician was under the influence of foreign television and used information from “unfriendly associations” as evidence of the atrocities of Russian soldiers:
“Contrary to the arguments of the defense, Yashin did not just broadcast the position of foreign TV channels, <…> he cited media reports from unfriendly countries to substantiate his statements. <...> At the same time, these documents do not have legal force, but are only one-sided recent conclusions made on behalf of international organizations of countries that are members of such, to put it mildly, unfriendly associations as NATO and the European Union.”
Yashin himself pleaded not guilty. Here is a snippet of his final speech: