The Central District Military Court in Yekaterinburg has begun hearing the case against 58-year-old Izhevsk resident Alexander Krichevsky on charges of inciting terrorism, reported a correspondent from «Mediazona»* from the courtroom.
The criminal prosecution was triggered by a comment on the Telegram channel of Chechen opposition blogger and supporter of Chechnya's independence, Tumso Abdurakhmanov, written on September 11, 2024.
«That's why we listen to him, because he is not afraid — a ray of freedom in the realm of darkness! And we will destroy this darkness only together when we realize that we have one enemy — Putin and his FSB clique… Both you and we need to destroy this enemy in order to live peacefully as neighbors…», wrote the resident of Izhevsk.
The investigation believes that the comment contains «incitement to attempt on the life of the President of the Russian Federation and incitement to commit terrorist activities against FSB employees of Russia».
Alexander Krichevsky did not plead guilty and explained that he «did not call for any physical destruction» of the President of the Russian Federation and FSB employees. He admitted that his words might be «illegal», but not subject to the terrorism article. He suggested that his actions be qualified under the article on incitement to extremist activities or incitement of hatred.
Alexander Krichevsky is a first-group disabled person, confined to a wheelchair. However, formally he currently has no disability status, as he could not renew it while in pre-trial detention. As «Mediazona» found out, Krichevsky had inflammation in the bone marrow, and now has kidney problems.
Before his arrest, Krichevsky lived with his elderly mother and worked as a system administrator. After his arrest, his mother passed away.
* Recognized in Russia as a «foreign agent».