A Moscow court has sentenced Russian journalist and writer Mikhail Zygar in absentia to eight-and-half years in prison for spreading “false information” about the Russian military, independent media outlet Mediazona reported on Tuesday.
Zygar, who was the editor-in-chief of independent Russian TV channel Dozhd between 2010 and 2015, was found guilty for social media posts he made condemning the civilian massacres carried out by the Russian military in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha in March 2022.
Describing Bucha as a place “where Russian troops left the corpses of civilians everywhere, many of them with their hands tied behind their backs”, Zygar also mentioned in his posts that those who survived the month-long Russian occupation “talk about mass rapes”.
Ilnur Sharapov, Zygar’s lawyer, insisted that his client had not been proven guilty, and argued that the war crimes committed by the Russian military in Bucha had been confirmed by the United Nations, which meant his client could not be guilty of spreading false information.
The court nevertheless rejected Sharapov’s arguments, and Judge Yevgenia Kozlova met the prosecutors’ request and sentenced Zygar to eight-and-a-half years in prison.
Zygar, who has also published several books that have been highly critical of Vladimir Putin and his regime, left Russia shortly after its invasion of Ukraine and currently lives in Germany. He was added to Russia’s wanted list in April.