Three-year sentence for criticizing Putin
A 56-year-old Rafis Kashalov has been sentenced by a Russian court to three years imprisonment over social network posts criticizing Russia's annexation of Crimea and aggression in eastern Ukraine. The prosecution claimed - and judge Dan Shakurov in the Naberezhnye Chelny court accepted – that these were 'public calls to violate Russian territorial integrity' and 'hate speech.' This is the first prosecution and verdict on charges under the new Article 280.1 § 2, and has, as feared, been used against expressions of opposition to Russia’s occupation of internationally recognized Ukrainian territory.