Moscow court sentences (in absentia) opposition politician Maxim Katz to eight years in prison for spreading ‘disinformation’ about Russian atrocities in Bucha

Eight years in prison. That is the sentence handed down in absentia today by a Moscow court to opposition politician Maxim Katz for disseminating supposed “disinformation” about the Russian military. Prosecutors opened the case against Katz in April 2022 in response to his YouTube video where he addresses Russian war crimes committed against civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, outside Kyiv. 

According to the news outlet Mediazona, defense attorney Alan Gamazov told the court that Russia’s Defense Ministry published its version of events in Bucha after Katz’s video (meaning that Katz’s comments did not constitute disinformation when they were made because there was no official truth at that time). Gamazov also quoted excerpts from reports by international commissions about the actions of Russian soldiers during their occupation of the town.

Katz no longer resides in Russia, where he was ordered jailed in absentia in March.