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St. Petersburg court arrests blogger Khovansky, charged with justification of terrorism

Khovansky was apprehended over suspicions of justification of terrorism

ST. PETERSBURG, June 10. /TASS/. The St. Petersburg Dzerzhinsky District Court arrested blogger Yuri Khovansky, who was earlier apprehended and charged with the justification of terrorism over the online publication of songs, the Petersburg united court press service said Thursday.

"The court satisfied the investigators’ appeal, arresting Khovansky until August 8," the press service said.

On Wednesday, a source told TASS that Khovansky was apprehended over suspicions of justification of terrorism. The source explained that the apprehension took place over the online publication of a song, justifying the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis. Later, the Investigative Committee confirmed the apprehension. According to the video footage of his interrogation, Khovansky admitted his guilt and apologized.

According to the court press service, the investigators believe that the song in question was performed during a live stream in about July last year. The court papers indicated that he only partially admitted his guilt. During the court hearing, he asked for house arrest or restriction of freedom.

Khovansky’s YouTube channel has 4.4 million subscribers.

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