A prominent opponent of the Kremlin, jailed for condemning the military offensive in Ukraine, asked to be released on Wednesday, the first day of a trial that symbolizes a ruthless crackdown on critical voices in Russia, AFP and Agerpres reported.

39-year-old Ilya Yashin, who at the time of his arrest was a deputy of the local council of Moscow, is accused of “inciting hatred” with false information about the Russian army, for which a penalty of ten years in prison is provided.

He is accused of condemning the “civilian deaths” in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, near Kyiv, during a live address on YouTube accusing the Russian military of abuses that Moscow denies.

During the hearing, Yassin asked to be released during the trial, claiming that he had no intention of evading justice by leaving the country, an AFP journalist reported.

“If I wanted to run for office, I would have done it a long time ago,” he said from a glass cage set aside by the defendant.

“I love my country and am ready to sacrifice my freedom to live here (…) I am a Russian patriot,” he added.

Dressed in a dark sweater and blue jeans, Yashin appeared relaxed as he addressed the court in a playful tone, even managing to make the otherwise stern judges smile.

Yasin is one of the last known opponents of President Vladimir Putin who has not left the country amid a crackdown that has forced many Kremlin critics to choose exile over prison.

In June he was arrested, and in July he was put in a pre-trial detention center, which did not prevent him from continuing to fiercely criticize the government and condemn the military intervention in Ukraine.

In early November, he accused Russian judges of being “servants” of the government and causing Putin a “sense of impunity.” “This feeling eventually led our country to a bloody war and tens of thousands of victims,” ​​Yasin said.

He is being tried under articles of the Criminal Code introduced shortly after the start of the offensive against Ukraine, which provide punishment for those who “discredit” the army or “spread false information” on the subject.

Yasin was a close relative of opponent Boris Nemtsov, who was killed in 2015, as well as anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, imprisoned since early 2021 after a poisoning operation he blamed on the Kremlin.

The trial, which began on Wednesday, is one of many cases brought against political opposition figures or individuals who have criticized Russia’s offensive against Ukraine.

In July, a local opposition deputy in Moscow, Oleksiy Horinov, was tried and sentenced to seven years in prison for spreading “false information” about the Russian military after denouncing the conflict in Ukraine.

___

• Follow the latest events of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HotNews.ro