Russian court sentences actor to 8 years in prison in absentia over ‘false information’ about military
Moscow’s Basmanny Court sentenced actor Artur Smolyaniov in absentia to eight years in prison on charges of spreading “false information” about the Russian military, a Mediazona correspondent reported.
The case stemmed from an interview Smolyaniov gave to Novaya Gazeta Europe, in which he discussed a missile strike on a residential building in Kryvyi Rih on December 16, 2022, that killed two people.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of nine years and 10 months. During closing arguments, the state prosecutor said Smolyaniov was “dragging the country and the president through the mud.”
Smolyaniov has consistently spoken out publicly against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He left Russia in 2022.
Russian authorities previously designated Smolyaniov a “foreign agent” and added him to the country’s list of “terrorists and extremists.”
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