The Verkh-Isetsky District Court of Yekaterinburg convicted blogger Ruslan Sokolovsky and gave him a suspended sentence of three and a half years in prison on May 11 for playing the Pokemon Go game at a Yekaterinburg church, an Interfax correspondent reported from the courtroom.
“The cumulative punishment for Sokolovsky shall be a suspended sentence of three years and six months,” Judge Yekaterina Shoponyak said when pronouncing the operative part of the judgment on May 11.
“Sokolovsky’s guilt has been established,” the judge said.
The court agreed that Sokolovsky’s reformation was possible without an actual prison term.
The court convicted Sokolovsky on nine counts of incitement of hatred and animosity and abasement of human dignity and also seven counts of public actions that showed obvious disrespect for society and were committed in order to insult worshippers’ religious feelings.
The court also found that Sokolovsky had purchased a special gadget, namely a pen with a video recording function, without permission. The gadget was found during a search in Sokolovsky’s apartment, and he was convicted of illegal operations involving this equipment.
The court did not find any aggravating circumstances in this case. Among mitigating circumstances, the court cited the fact that Sokolovsky was helping his mother and had offered an apology to all those affected by his actions.
