MOSCOW, Russia: A Russian court has jailed a prominent opposition politician, Ilya Yashin, pending an investigation and trial following his public criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Yashin has been charged with spreading false information about the Russian military, a newly created criminal offense carrying a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, if convicted.
Despite the pressure mounted by authorities against dissenters, Yashin, 39, is one of the few opposition figures who has not fled Russia.
A vocal supporter of Russia’s imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Yashin rose to prominence in the 2000s as an opposition activist and ally of slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov. In 2017, he was elected chair of a Moscow municipal council.
Yashin has been jailed after reportedly making a YouTube livestream video where he mentioned Ukrainians being killed in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.
He was earlier detained in late June in a city park and ordered to serve 15 days in jail for disobeying a police officer.
Yashin was to be released from jail this week, but he was detained again on new charges. The following day, the Basmanny District Court remanded him in custody until 12th September.
In court, Yashin stressed that the charges against him were “politically motivated from the first to the very last page.”
“Do not be afraid of these scoundrels! Russia will be free!” he told a crowd of journalists and supporters in the courtroom.
The Kremlin has cracked down on critics of what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
In April, Vladimir Kara-Muza, a well-known opposition figure, was arrested and charged under the same law as Yashin.
