The Central District Military Court of Yekaterinburg found lawyer Konstantin Ogoltsov guilty under the article of 'justifying terrorism' and sentenced him to six years in a general regime colony, reported Sotavision**. This was exactly what the prosecution requested. The court also prohibited him from administering internet resources for three years.
The reason for initiating the criminal case was two comments by Ogoltsov under a news post on 'VKontakte', in which he called the commander of the Legion 'Freedom of Russia' a 'real hero' and 'Azov' patriots of their country. In court, he confirmed authorship but explained that he did not share the expressed ideas and wrote the comments to 'annoy' an opponent on the social network.
During a search of Ogoltsov's phone, cartoons of Putin, photos of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers, and videos about the activities of 'RDK'* and the Legion 'Freedom of Russia' were found. He claims that the images were saved automatically after subscribing to 'various groups', which ones exactly, he does not remember.
Lawyer Ekaterina Sokolovskaya stated that her client is a 'Christian and patriot' who provided legal assistance to the needy and pensioners. According to her, Ogoltsov's comments cannot be considered justification of terrorism, as they do not contain 'admiration for specific actions'.
Konstantin Ogoltsov was previously a member of the party 'Other Russia' of Eduard Limonov. In 2006, he was held accountable in a case of 'extremism' for distributing the party newspaper.
* Recognized in Russia as 'terrorist' organizations.
** Recognized in Russia as a 'foreign agent' and 'undesirable' organization.
Photo: Sotavision