Blogger charged, convicted
2008-07-08 07:54
Moscow - A Russian internet blogger was given a one-year suspended sentence on Monday for calling for police officers to be burnt in public in comments posted online, Russian news agencies reported.
Savva Terentyev, a blogger and musician in the northern city of Syktyvkar, was found guilty by the local city court of inciting hatred, RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The charges stemmed from comments that he posted last year on the blog of a local journalist, calling for "infidel cops" to be burnt in public squares "like in Auschwitz".
Terentyev has repeatedly insisted on his innocence.
The case has raised concerns about a possible crackdown on the internet by Russian authorities.
Prosecutor Lada Luzan said the comments were an "act of extremism, since the object of the criminal incitation was individuals fulfilling law-enforcement functions", the Interfax news agency reported.
The Russian-language internet has remained a source of uncensored news and discussion in recent years, even after most major Russian media outlets began to follow a strictly pro-Kremlin line.
- AFP