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TV host Lazareva sentenced in absentia to 6.5 years in prison for propaganda of terrorism

Under the court ruling, she has also been banned from engaging in activities related to the administration of internet resources for a period of four years

MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. Russian TV host Tatiana Lazareva (listed as a foreign agent in Russia) has been sentenced in absentia to 6.5 years in a penal colony on charges of propaganda of terrorism, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom.

"To find Tatiana Lazareva guilty and sentence her in absentia to a prison term of six years and six months," the judge read out the ruling of the 2nd Western District Military Court.

Under the court ruling, she has also been banned from engaging in activities related to the administration of internet resources for a period of four years.

Meanwhile, Lazareva’s attorney, Leonid Solovyov, told TASS that he plans to challenge the verdict.

Lazareva, who is on Russia’s international wanted list, has been found guilty of public calls for terrorist activities, justification and propaganda of terrorism carried out with the use of mass media outlets or information and telecommunication networks, including the internet (part 2 of article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code. She refused to admit her guilt.

According to the Moscow prosecutor’s office, during an interview released on an internet channel on August 14, 2023, Lazareva, who was outside Russia, "publicly state that it is quite permissible to carry out terror attacks on Russian cities with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, thus publicly justifying terrorism."

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