EU calls for immediate release of Ilya Yashin, other political prisoners in Russia

According to Ukrinform, an EU spokesperson said this in a statement published on the website of the European External Action Service on December 9.

"A Moscow court today sentenced the Russian politician Ilya Yashin to 8.5 years in prison for his reporting about atrocities committed by Russia's armed forces against Ukrainian civilians in Bucha. […]Today’s court decision is politically motivated and unacceptable. The EU calls on Russia’s authorities to release Ilya Yashin and all other political prisoners in Russia immediately and unconditionally," the statement said.

The EU spokesperson noted that Russia's so-called "fake news" law, which was used in the case against Yashin, aims at censoring and silencing independent voices and at preventing them from questioning, criticizing and reporting factually about Russia's unprovoked, unjustified and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.

On December 9, a Moscow court sentenced Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin to eight-and-a-half years in prison on charges of spreading "false information" about the Russian army. After serving the term, Yashin will be barred from using the internet for four years. The public prosecutor demanded that the politician be sentenced to nine years in prison.