A representative of the state prosecutor’s office asks the court to sentence former State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev in absentia**** to 14 years in prison for calling for the burning of Russian military registration and enlistment offices and for stating that the Russian Armed Forces deliberately bombed the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, TASS reports from the courtroom of the Second Western District Military Court, where the case is being heard.
“Please recognize Ponomarev**** guilty under articles of justification of terrorism and dissemination of deliberately false information about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation based on political hatred and sentence him to 14 years in a general regime colony. I ask you to consider the sentence imposed as in absentia,” – the prosecutor said during the debate between the parties in the trial. He also called for a ban on Ponomarev.**** manage the sites for five years.
According to him, the reason for the criminal prosecution against Ponomarev**** became his speeches at the Free Russia Forum event** (the organization is recognized as undesirable in the Russian Federation) in 2022. The defendants participated in it via video conference from the territory of Ukraine. There they claimed that the Russian military, including using aircraft, deliberately attacked the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and the Mariupol drama theater. This information was denied by the Russian Ministry of Defense. Ponomarev also**** He spoke out in support of the burning down of Russian military registration and enlistment offices and the forcible overthrow of the legitimate government in the Russian Federation. The video recording of the former MP’s speeches was later posted on the video hosting site YouTube and became widely available.
The defence, however, believes that the case is based on unacceptable evidence, Ponomarev said.**** justify.
Ponomarev**** Arrested in absentia in the Russian Federation, the organization he created was declared undesirable on Russian territory.
*An individual who performs the functions of a foreign agent.
**An organization whose activities are recognized as undesirable in the territory of the Russian Federation.
***An individual included in the RosFinMonitoring list of terrorists and extremists
