UFA -- The Supreme Court of the Russian republic of Bashkortostan has upheld the sentence of a local civil rights activist.
The court ruled on July 28 that Airat Dilmukhametov's three-year jail sentence must stay unchanged.
Dilmukhametov was sentenced in March after the Kirov district court in Bashkortostan's capital, Ufa, found him guilty of "public support of terrorism."
The court also ruled that Dilmukhametov cannot practice journalism for two years.
Dilmukhametov was officially charged in July 2013 after he posted an article titled Akhyr Zaman (Armageddon) on the Internet.
Investigators said the article included calls for extremism, justification of terrorism, and calls for Bashkortostan's secession from Russia.
Dilmukhametov pleaded not guilty.
Many in Muslim-majority Bashkortostan say the case against Dilmukhametov is politically motivated and linked to his activities as a rights activist.