The Moscow Municipal Court sentenced Igor Girkin, commonly known as Igor Strelkov, to four years in a general regime colony on Thursday. A renowned pro-war activist, Girkin was accused of questioning the salaries of Russian fighters and the political circumstances in Crimea, deemed as extremist behavior online.
His charges fall under Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which strictly prohibits any public call for extremist activities on the internet. Initially, the state prosecution recommended that Girkin serve a total of 4 years and 11 months in a penal colony, which is just one month short of the maximum punishment under this law.
Apart from the prison term, the court has also prohibited Girkin from using the internet throughout his sentence. His conviction stems from a criminal case based on two posts on his Telegram channel, published on May 25, 2023, which probed into the earnings of Russian fighters and the situation pervading Crimea. Despite these allegations, Girkin maintained his innocence from the start, dismissing the charges as absurd, even though he did not dispute authorship of the posts.
A former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer and leader of the Russian-backed separatist state entity Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine, Girkin has been in the limelight before. The Meshchansky Court arrested him in Moscow and took him into custody in July 2023.
Further back in November 2022, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague found him guilty in absentia for causing the MH17 plane crash in eastern Ukraine, instigated by pro-Russian militants. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment for this act. However, both the Russian government and Girkin himself refused to recognize the decision and jurisdiction of the ICC over this case, with Girkin holding firm that the militia did not shoot down the plane.
On another note, Girkin and a group of pro-war Russian nationalists established the “Club of Angry Patriots” in May 2023 to criticize Russian military officials and expose their inaction during the Ukraine conflict. His plans to step into the political ring were revealed in November 2023 when he signaled his intention to run for the Russian presidency in 2024 through his supporters.
For more detailed coverage of this story, visit JURIST – News.