3 Years In Prison Over Online Comments In Russia's Bashkortostan

A court in Russia's Republic of Bashkortostan sentenced a resident of the city of Neftekamsk on August 6 to three years in prison over six comments he made in private online conversations. Marat Zaripov was found guilty of calls for terrorism. The court also banned Zaripov from administering websites and accounts on the Internet for two years after his release. The content of the comments in question were not made public. Since Moscow launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, hundreds of people in Russia have faced criminal proceedings, mostly on charges of discrediting the Russian military and on terrorism indictments. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service, click here.