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Court arrests municipal lawmaker suspected of spreading fake news about Russian army

If found guilty, Ilya Yashin may face a prison sentence of five to ten years

MOSCOW, July 13. /TASS/. Moscow’s Basmanny District Court has arrested municipal lawmaker Ilya Yashin suspected of spreading false information about the Russian Armed Forces based on political hatred, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom.

"Moscow’s Basmanny District Court hereby upholds a request by the Main Investigation Department of the Russian Investigative Committee that Ilya Yashin be taken into custody until September 12 as he is suspected of committing a crime under Paragraph D of Article 207.3, Part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code," Judge Natalya Dudar said.

The court hearing took place behind closed doors.

Yashin is suspected of publicly spreading fake news about the Russian Armed Forces under the guise of reliable information. If found guilty, he may face a prison sentence of five to ten years. The Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Yashin after his YouTube live stream on April 7, where he had talked about developments in Bucha. In late May, Moscow’s Tushinsky District Court fined him 90,000 rubles ($1,500) for discrediting the Russian Armed Forces. In case of a repeated offense, he was to face a criminal investigation.