Prominent Russian nationalist Igor Girkin was on Thursday (Jan 25) convicted by a Moscow court for inciting extremism and jailed for four years.
Girkin, who denied the charges, has strongly condemned President Vladimir Putin for not effectively pursuing the war against Ukraine.
He reportedly had also actively contributed towards instigating the conflict between Kremlin-backed separatists and Kyiv’s armed forces in Ukraine’s Donbas region in the year 2014.
Moscow City Court said Girkin was found guilty of “public calls to carry out extremist activities”, further adding that the 53-year-old would serve his sentence of imprisonment in a general regime colony.
“I serve the Fatherland!” Girkin yelled out after the verdict was read out.
Arrests outside Moscow court
Russian police detained at least three people outside the Moscow court after it convicted Girkin.
As per news agency AFP reports, police had captured three people, with one of them chanting “Freedom for Girkin!” while others held posters with nationalist slogans.
“I serve the Fatherland!” Girkin shouted after the verdict was read out.
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Calling the accusations against Girkin “absurd”, his wife rebuffed the allegations.
“The accusation is absolutely absurd,” Girkin’s wife Miroslava Reginskaya said.
“My husband is a hero of the Russian Spring,” she added, referring to the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine.
His lawyer, Alexander Molokhov, called the sentence “an ugly judicial act”, that he said would be appealed immediately.
Girkin was arrested in 2023 over the charges of “extremism” after months of public attacks on Russian troops.
He had also denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin for not pushing an offensive aggressive enough against Ukraine.
Dubbing Putin “an old idiot”, he took to his social media handle and said that the “country will not survive another six years of this cowardly mediocrity in power”, before being arrested.
Girkin’s detention was considered a prominent example of how Russia was suppressing the nationalist critics.
During his pre-trial custody, he launched a campaign to challenge Putin in the next presidential election scheduled to be held in March.
While in jail, he gave an interview to the Russian media, where he said that the country had “entered a period of acute instability” and faced “imminent catastrophe”.
(With inputs from agencies)
