Russian ex-lawmaker investigated for spreading lies about army
August 31, 2022, 8:59 am

Russian ex-lawmaker investigated for spreading lies about army

FILE PHOTO: Ilya Ponomaryov, a member of Just Russia political party, speaks during a news conference in Moscow, August 22, 2012. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File PhotoReuters

TASS news agency cited a Moscow court as saying on Tuesday (August 30), Ilya Ponomaryov, a Russian former lawmaker who now opposes the Kremlin from exile in Ukraine, is under investigation for spreading false information about the Russian army.

It said investigators had requested his "arrest in absentia", which effectively makes him a wanted man and means he would face certain detention if he returned to Russia.

Under a law passed eight days after Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the "public dissemination of deliberately false information" about the armed forces is punishable by fines or, in the most serious cases, up to 15 years in jail.

A Moscow district councillor, Alexei Gorinov, was jailed for seven years in July after being convicted of that offence. Two other opposition figures, Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza, are in pre-trial detention in similar cases.

❗️ Russian ex-MP Ilya Ponomaryov in his interview to Ukrainian channel "Utro Fevralya" said Darya Dugina was killed by Russian partisans from the National Republican Army. He says both Dugin and his daughter were targets. Full video in two tweets: pic.twitter.com/GcHrXfwupv
— Dmitri (@wartranslated) August 21, 2022

Last week another critic of the war, former Yekaterinburg mayor Yevgeny Roizman, was charged with discrediting the armed forces after describing Moscow's actions in Ukraine as a war and an invasion. That offence is punishable by up to three years in lesser cases, or five in more serious ones.

Russian liberal sentenced for comparing Stalin to Hitler

Ponomaryov has come under pressure in Russia since becoming the only lawmaker in the 450-strong lower chamber of parliament, the Duma, to vote against the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

In a post on the messaging app Telegram, he made light of the latest development, saying it would be the second time he had been arrested in absentia.

Russia introduces jail terms for spreading ‘fake’ information about the army

Ilya Vladimirovich Ponomarev is a Russian politician who was a member of the State Duma from 2007 to 2016.

Following the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ponomarev stated that he had joined Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, and he denounced the invasion.

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