Russia opens criminal case against activist over ‘fake’ news on Ukraine – lawyer

Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza, vice chairman of Open Russia, testifies prior to a Senate Appropriations Point out, Foreign Functions and Connected Courses Subcommittee hearing on “Civil Society Perspectives on Russia” on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photograph

April 22 (Reuters) – Russia has opened a legal circumstance in opposition to a outstanding opposition activist on suspicion of spreading phony facts about Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine, his law firm mentioned on Friday.

Vladimir Kara-Murza was detained outside the house his household in Moscow on April 11, hours after CNN aired an interview in which he criticised Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

He was later on sentenced to 15 times in jail for disobeying law enforcement orders on currently being detained, Kara-Murza’s law firm, Vadim Prokhorov, said at the time.

A Moscow court docket on Friday declared that Kara-Murza would stay in detention till June 12 at the request of the investigator handling the case, Interfax news company noted.

Kara-Murza has not been formally charged and Prokhorov denies his client broke the law.

“Vladimir Kara-Murza is now at the primary investigation Section of Russia’s Investigative Committee,” Prokhorov wrote on Fb. “A legal situation has been opened… for ‘public dissemination of deliberately phony information and facts about Russia’s armed forces.'” Prokhorov did not say when specifically the scenario experienced been opened.

Independently, Russia’s justice ministry on Friday additional Kara-Murza to a record of “overseas brokers”, meaning he is subject to stringent monetary reporting necessities and have to preface everything he publishes with a disclaimer. The ministry stated him as a Ukrainian agent. examine far more

The Investigative Committee, the state overall body that probes main crimes, did not right away react to a request for comment.

Russia’s parliament final thirty day period handed a regulation that offers for jail terms of up to 15 several years for those people convicted of deliberately spreading “phony” information about what Moscow calls its “exclusive military services operation” in Ukraine.

Russian officials reported the new regulation was needed for the reason that to guard its military and battle misinformation about its armed service campaign in Ukraine.

Reporting by Reuters Enhancing by Jon Boyle and Daniel Wallis

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