Igor Strelkov sent to pretrial jail over ‘calls for extremism’ charges

A court in Moscow has sent Igor Strelkov, also known as Girkin, the former “defence minister” of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” and the de-facto leader of Russia’s proxies in the War in Donbas, to a pretrial jail until 18 September, as per Mediazona.

An FSB detective said at the court session that the criminal case on online extremism had been initiated on 18 July. Strelkov’s lawyer Alexander Molokhov says two posts on Telegram dated 25 May were behind the charges.

Strelkov is facing up to five years in prison.

During the session, he requested to be placed under house arrest rather than sent to jail. He also mentioned he had cardiac angina.

“The detective’s claim that I may flee abroad is absolutely ridiculous as I’m wanted in most of the countries. I was sentenced by a court in the Hague for a crime I never committed,” he said.

Journalist Vasily Polonsky says around 50 people gathered before the courthouse. One of Strelkov’s supporters was detained.

“Igor Strelkov criticised the actions of Russia’s authorities openly and reasonably, and the president, too, but the freedom of speech is guaranteed by Russia’s Constitution. Our certainty on this point has been shattered:

we can see that there are things going on in our country that demonstrate that the authorities are starting to reject the basic values.

We believe that what happened today shatters people’s trust to the law enforcement, that it is part of an unfair campaign against Igor Strelkov, and will negatively impact the country’s stability during the special operation,” Strelkov’s supporters wrote.

Strelkov was detained earlier today. Last November, a court in The Hague found Igor Strelkov guilty, alongside two other individuals, of the 2014 MH17 takedown that killed 298 people travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.