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OSCE concerned about disproportionate sentence to Russian blogger Sinitsa

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir assumes that "the five years prison sentence for a tweet, although reprehensible, is a very harsh and disproportionate punishment"

Vladislav Sinitsa Maxim Grigoryev/TASS

Vladislav Sinitsa

© Maxim Grigoryev/TASS

MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/. OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir expressed his concern about the sentence to Russian blogger Vladislav Sinitsa, who was handed a five-year sentence for extremism, as his tweet contained calls for reprisals against children of National Guard and police officers, the OSCE said on Saturday in a press release.

"I am concerned about the disproportion of the sentence against Vladislav Sinitsa," Desir said. "Even in cases where restriction to freedom of expression can apply, in accordance with international standards, the principle of proportionality must be respected and taken in consideration. The five years prison sentence for a tweet, although reprehensible, is a very harsh and disproportionate punishment. I call on the authorities to carefully review the sentence against the blogger."

On September 3, Moscow’s Presnensky court sentenced to five years in jail Russian blogger Vladislav Sinitsa after finding him guilty for incitement of hatred. According to the indictment, Sinitsa had been posting extremism-related tweets for a week. On July 31, Sinitsa posted calls to the social media under the nickname of Maks Steklov urging a wide range of people to begin illegal acts of violence against law enforcers’ children. The Investigative Committee believes that his actions pursued a goal "of instigating hostility and hatred against all law enforcers and their families." On Friday, the Moscow City Court upheld the sentence in appeal.

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