A former mayor of Russia’s fourth-largest city was jailed for 14 days on Thursday pending his trial on charges that could carry a lengthy prison sentence as part of authorities’ efforts to silence dissent.
Yevgeny Roizman, a harsh critic of the Kremlin, is one of the most visible and charismatic opposition figures in Russia. He enjoyed great popularity as mayor of Yekaterinburg, a city of 1.5 million people in the Ural Mountains.
Last year, 60-year-old Roizman, who was mayor from 2013 to 2018, faced charges of discrediting the Russian military and was charged with attending public events, using the internet, the phone or the mail and communication with anyone other than his attorneys and close family members prohibited from court hearing.
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Police arrested Roizman Thursday on charges of reposting material that contained a reference to the authorities-banned organization led by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Roizman denied the allegations during a court hearing in Yekaterinburg after his detention, insisting that he is not even registered on this social network. His attorney argued that the re-release was done by members of one of his many support groups.
Despite Roizman’s arguments, the Yekaterinburg court sentenced him to 14 days in prison. The ruling would bar him from running in elections scheduled for later this year, although Roizman has expressed no intention of running in the race.
Former mayor of Yekaterinburg, Russia Yevgeny Roziman, a prominent anti-Putin critic, was sentenced to at least 14 days in prison pending trial. (AP Photo/Vladimir Podoksyonov)
It was unclear if authorities would use his conviction to keep him behind bars for violating an order not to use the internet. It was also unclear what the ruling would mean for his separate trial for discrediting the military, which is expected to open later this month.
Courts have repeatedly fined Roizman over the past year for discrediting the military, and he faces up to three years in prison if convicted of a repeat offense.
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Days after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine last year, Russian lawmakers passed a law banning alleged denigration of the Russian military or the dissemination of “false information” about the country’s military operation in Ukraine. Courts across the country have increasingly handed down prison sentences on critics of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
Roizman was one of the few visible opposition figures in Russia who had not yet been imprisoned or fled the country under pressure from the authorities. A prominent opposition politician, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to 8½ years in prison for discrediting the military, and another senior opposition figure, Vladimir Kara-Murza, was jailed on the same charges and is now on trial.
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Kara-Murza’s health has deteriorated significantly behind bars, his lawyer Vadim Prokhorov said. The politician was unable to attend a court hearing on Thursday and it was canceled, Prokhorov said on Facebook. The defense will work to bring the politician to a civilian hospital for examination and treatment and to release him from custody, Prokhorov said.
Source : www.foxnews.com