In the Russian region of Chechnya, 19-year-old Nikita Zhuravel was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for burning a copy of the Quran. This was reported by SOTA Vision from the hall of the Visayit court in Grozny, UNN reports.
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It is noted that 19-year-old Zhuravel was found guilty of insulting the religious feelings of believers and hooliganism. The prosecutor requested a 3.5-year prison sentence for the defendant, and the court granted his request.
The Russian edition of SOTA Vision published a video of Zhuravel standing in a cage with white bars and hearing the verdict. Afterwards, the video showed a moment when a Russian reporter literally forced the defendant to publicly apologize for his actions once again.
Have you repented? Apologize.
And Zhuravel to apologize once again for burning the Koran.
I apologize to all Muslims for offending their religious feelings with my actions.
Nikita Zhuravel's lawyer stated that she intends to appeal the verdict of the Grozny court. According to defense counsel Yulia Antonova, the court misinterpreted parts of the articles under which her client was sentenced.
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Nikita Zhuravel's case attracted international attention last year when Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov posted a video of his son Adam beating the defendant while he was in prison awaiting trial.
кадиров пошкодував, що його син не вбив у СІЗО 19-річного хлопця, який спалив Коран13.12.23, 18:53
The journalists also added that in November 2023, Memorial recognized Mykyta Zhuravel as a political prisoner. According to human rights activists, they have reason to doubt that it was he who burned the Quran, as the video does not indicate authorship.