The prominent Russian opposition figure Yevgeny Roisman has been sentenced to 14 days in prison in Yekaterinburg for allegedly spreading extremist symbolism. The judge found Roisman guilty of an administrative offense, the Russian news agency Interfax reported today. Roisman was arrested by the police this morning.
Roisman is said to have shared a video of the sentencing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on the Russian social network VKontakte (vk.com), which featured the emblem of his Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK), which is considered extremist in Russia. Roisman himself denies the allegation.
According to his lawyers, the 60-year-old never had an account on the network where the video appeared. Judge Vladimir Ushakov ignored the defense’s arguments in his verdict.
Roisman is one of the best-known opposition politicians in Russia. From 2013 to 2018 he was elected mayor of the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals. In the summer of 2022, after criticism of the Ukraine war for allegedly discrediting the Russian army, he was banned from accessing the Internet, among other things.
