Russian dissident Yevgeny Roizman, a former mayor of the city of Yekaterinburg who was accused of discrediting the Russian army, has avoided house arrest and instead will be banned from public events and from using the Internet for five weeks, Interfax reports, Reuters reports.

Roizman, an outspoken supporter of critic Oleksiy Navalny and a critic of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, is barred from communicating with anyone except his lawyer and relatives until September 29 without permission.

The court rejected the prosecutor’s request to place him under house arrest and ordered his release from custody.

Roizman denies all the charges.

Judging by the footage that appeared on social networks, Roizman declared before the court that Freedom is the greatest human value.”

On Wednesday, Russian media published a video showing Roizman, the former mayor of Yekaterinburg in the Urals, being taken from his home by masked men. He told reporters as he was picked up by masked men that he was being investigated for using the words “war” and “invasion” to describe Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Russia claims it is conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine, and the crime of defamation of the armed forces, newly introduced after its February 24 invasion of Ukraine, carries a prison sentence of up to five years.

State news agency TASS reported that investigators said the case was based on a video that Roizman uploaded to YouTube.

Roizman, a popular figure both in Yekaterinburg and nationally, was elected mayor of Russia’s fourth-largest city in 2013 amid a wave of protests against Vladimir Putin’s decision to run for a third presidential term. Roizman resigned in 2018 after local lawmakers voted to revoke his mandate, which Roizman called a politically motivated move against him.