Russian blogger ‘guilty of inciting hatred’
p2pnet news P2P:- Russian blogger Savva Terentyev was yesterday handed a one-year suspended jail sentence for a post he made last year.
In it, police officers should be “periodically set on fire” in city squares, “like in Auschwitz,” he’s alleged to have said, according to the Moscow Times.
“Terentyev, 22, was found guilty of inciting hatred or harm for a commentary he wrote on journalist Boris Suranov’s blog in February 2007, prosecutor Alexander Shulkin said,” says the story, going on:
“Terentyev’s lawyers have questioned the findings of court experts called on to examine the language in the piece and plan to appeal the verdict, Interfax reported.
“His lawyers maintain that Terentyev had intended for only a select number of people to see the online commentary and that, under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, the contents of the blog are protected speech,” says the Moscow Times.
Prosecutors demanded a suspended sentence rather than a fine or community service because they said the crime should be considered an extremist act because Terntyev targeted law enforcement officials, adds the story.
‘Hyperbole and exaggeration’
Terentyev’s case was the first of its kind in Russia, attracting international attention from the start, says The Other Russia, adding >>>
For his part, Terentyev remained unapologetic and maintained his innocence, pledging to appeal the ruling. During the trial, he described a distinction between scrupulous and unscrupulous police, and expressed his belief that law-enforcement officials who break the law and Constitution must be subject to “severe punishment.“
Terentyev, “called his earlier suggestion that corrupt cops be burned in Auschwitz-like ovens ‘hyperbole and exaggeration,’ and apologized to concentration camp victims and virtuous militsiya officers who he may have ‘involuntarily hurt with the contested commentary’,” adds the post.
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.Stumble It!
Moscow Times – Blogger Handed Suspended Sentence, July 9, 2008
The Other Russia – Russian Blogger Sentenced Over LiveJournal Comment, July 7, 2008
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July 9th, 2008 at 11:30 am
“Crappy russian police officers should be “periodically set on fire” in city squares, “like in Auschwitz,”
Hoops! I said it again!
July 9th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Court judgments may also be dictated by the church, since it controls authority and most belong to the ROC. Don’t expect fair trials.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
careful you don’t get poisoned Savva