Russian opposition figure and Moscow city councillor Ilya Yashin gestures from the defendants' cage in Moscow on November 23, 2022 at the opening of his trial before the Tverskoy district court that could land him in prison for up to a decade, on charge of "discrediting" the Russian army. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP) / “The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: Byline should reads [Alexander NEMENOV] instead of [Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.”
Russian opposition figure and Moscow city councillor Ilya Yashin gestures from the defendants' cage in Moscow on November 23, 2022 at the opening of his trial before the Tverskoy district court that could land him in prison for up to a decade, on charge of "discrediting" the Russian army. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP) / “The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: Byline should reads [Alexander NEMENOV] instead of [Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.”
Russian opposition figure and Moscow city councillor Ilya Yashin gestures from the defendants’ cage in Moscow on November 23, 2022 at the opening of his trial before the Tverskoy district court that could land him in prison for up to a decade, on charge of “discrediting” the Russian army. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP) / “The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: Byline should reads [Alexander NEMENOV] instead of [Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.”
A Russian court on Wednesday began the trial of opposition politician Ilya Yashin who faces up to a decade in prison for denouncing President Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine.
The trial against Yashin, a 39-year-old Moscow city councillor, comes amid an unprecedented crackdown on dissenting voices in Russia, with most opposition activists either in jail or out of the country.
Yashin refused to leave after Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24.
He is an ally of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny and was close to Boris Nemtsov, an opposition politician assassinated near the Kremlin in 2015.
Standing in a defendant’s cage in Moscow’s Meshchansky district court on Wednesday, Yashin sought to put on a brave face, laughing, doing thumbs up and stretching, an AFP correspondent said.
Wearing a dark green hoody and jeans, he was also seen smiling to his parents in the front row.
Yashin was detained this past summer while strolling through a park in the Russian capital.
He faces up to 10 years behind bars, accused of spreading “fake” information about the Russian army under legislation introduced after Putin launched the attack on Ukraine.
The reason for Yashin’s probe was an April YouTube stream in which Yashin spoke about the “murder of civilians” in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha where the Russian army has been accused of war crimes.
