The Tverskoi district court in Moscow sentenced Sergei Smirnov, editor of the news site Mediazona, to 25 days in jail for “repeated violations” of mass gathering restrictions, though he contends his true crime was a joke tweet in which he suggested a resemblance between himself and a Russian rock star, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty (RFERL) reported Wednesday.
Police arrested Smirnov on Sunday while he was reportedly out for a walk with his son, though they quickly released him following the charges.
Authorities allege Smirnov posted a statement to Twitter that, as RFERL put it, “contained elements” of calls for illegal demonstrations in support of Russian dissident leader Alexei Navalny, who at the time was in police custody. Navalny received a two-year, eight-month prison sentence on Tuesday for allegedly violating the terms of a previously suspended prison sentence.
In Russia, it is a crime to incite minors to attend “illegal” gatherings and coronavirus restrictions have severely limited legitimate assembly. The Russian state has arrested political demonstrators under the pretense of coronavirus lockdown violations.
The offending tweet remains unknown, though Smirnov has insisted his arrest stemmed from a tweet he made saying his followers noted a resemblance between himself and Dmitry Spirin, the frontman for rock group Tarakany (Cockroaches), who has openly backed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. There does appear to be some resemblance between the pair.
Breitbart News was unable to identify the tweet Smirnov referenced and it remains unclear if he has deleted it. He has, however, made additional tweets regarding the Russian rock music scene in apparent reference to his claim.
Mediazona’s publisher, Pyotr Verzilov, railed against the arrest in a Wednesday tweet, saying “the Kremlin is not only trying to brutally suppress the protests but is also trying to intimidate journalists who write about what is happening.”
Russia has experienced large-scale protests nationwide over the state’s arrest, trial, and sentencing of Navalny, whom federal authorities arrested upon his return to Russia in January. The dissident had spent several months in Germany recuperating from an alleged poisoning attempt.
Doctors believe Navalny was exposed to Novichok, a deadly nerve agent closely associated with political assassinations, most notably the failed hit on former Russian agent Sergei Skripal. There are no notable records of the use of Novichok by any actors without ties to the Russian or former Soviet states.
Navalny pinned the alleged assassination plot on Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin and Putin himself have adamantly denied any involvement. In December, Putin insisted that, had he ordered his agents to kill Navalny, “they would have finished it.”
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