PROSECUTION ASKS 3.5 YEARS IN PRISON COLONY FOR "POKEMON HUNTER" SOKOLOVSKY
The state's prosecutor on Friday demanded sentencing the blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky, the Pokemon "hunter" in the church, to 3.5 years real incarceration, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports from the courtroom.
In August of last year, Sokolovsky posted on his page in YouTube a video in which he plays in the Pokemon app during a service in the Church-on-the-Blood in Ekaterinburg. The film is accompanied by curse words in church music style, and at the end of the film the blogger ridicules the foundations of Christianity.
As a result, investigators opened a criminal case for offending believers' feelings and sought the arrest of the blogger. Later a court moved him from the SIZO [investigative detention cell] to house arrest.
"There are no grounds for releasing him from criminal accountability and from penalty. I ask for imposing three years and six months incarceration in a colony of general regime," the state's prosecutor said.
In her opinion, Sokolovsky can be reformed only in conditions of real incarceration.
She also added that some of the materials of the case have been shifted to a separate proceeding. "An examination has been conducted on them. For now it is not known whether another case will be initiated," the state's prosecutor said. (tr. by PDS, posted 30 April 2017)
POKEMON HUNTER IN CHURCH: I MAY BE AN IDIOT, BUT NOT AN EXTREMIST
"Pokemon hunter" Ruslan Sokolovsky, for whom the state's prosecutor on Friday requested a sentence of 3.5 years of real incarceration, in his final speech declared that he is in shock from the accusations against him, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports from the courtroom.
"I am in shock. I have already spent time in the SIZO. I am aware of what our camps of general regime are. I am an atheist, a cosmopolitan, and a libertarian. I do not have my own religion and my own nationality. I am half-Russian. How can I be accused of nationalism? I do not interfere with anyone's profession of any religion. I have communicated with a great number of believers and I reached agreement with them. I have come to the conclusion that believers are not people who can be offended by any words. I understood that for them religion is necessary in order to support them," Sokolovsky said.
He also added: "In my case there are no victims. The substance of the crime has been formulated as the result of expert analysis. I have received support from many. Perhaps I am an idiot, but not an extremist. As the experts say, my crime is not denial of God but denial of God aided by obscenity. When did obscenity become extremism?" (tr. by PDS, posted 30 April 2017)
SENTENCE IN CASE OF POKEMON HUNTER SOKOLOVSKY TO BE ANNOUNCED ON 11 MAY
The Verkh-Isetsk district court of Ekaterinburg will announce the sentence of the high-profile case of the Pokemon hunter, Ruslan Sokolovsky, on 11 May, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports from the courtroom.
Sokolovsky's lawyer, Aleksei Bushmakov, told journalists on Friday that, despite the request of the state's prosecutor about a real prison term for the blogger, the possibility of a suspended sentence remains. "I hope that the sentence will not be harsh. In Russian courts a conditional judgment is an acquittal," Bushmakov noted.
In August of last year, Sokolovsky posted on his account in YouTube a video where he plays the Pokemon app during a service in the Church-on-the-Blood in Ekaterinburg. The tape is accompanied with curse words in the style of church singing, and at the end of the tape the blogger ridicules the foundations of Christianity.
Subsequently investigators opened a criminal case of hurting believers' feelings and seeking the arrest of the blogger. Later a court moved him from the SIZO to house arrest.
On Friday the state's prosecutor asked the court to sentence Sokolovsky to 3.5 years. (tr. by PDS, posted 30 April 2017)
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