“Special hello, welcome to hell!” A resident of a Mordovian village was sentenced to six years in prison on charges of calling for extremism on the air of his own amateur radio station

The Central District Military Court sentenced 52-year-old radio amateur and beekeeper Kirill Akimov, who lives in the village of Krasnopolye in Mordovia, to six years in prison on charges of inciting extremism. This was reported by the press service of the court.

They specified that in addition to imprisonment, the court also prohibited Akimov from engaging in amateur radio communications for three years after his release.

In June 2022, Akimov was detained and then sent to a pre-trial detention center. He was charged with two counts of incitement to terrorism.

According to the investigation, Akimov went on the air on February 28 and March 14, 2022, where he spoke out against the war in Ukraine and “encouraged Ukrainians and Europeans to take violent actions against those who support the government of the current president of Russia, as well as oppose the head of state himself.”

As a radio call sign, Akimov used the pseudonym "Mordovian farmer", and on his airs he discussed not only politicians, but also beekeeping, gardening and pest control in the fields. He greeted his listeners with the phrase "Special hello, welcome to hell!"

Earlier in 2018, Akimov was fined twice for violating the rules for using the frequency range. The reason was the broadcasting of a villager at a frequency "bordering on the frequency range" of civil aviation. Then he used the call signs "Farmer Mordovia", "Extremist" and "Kamikaze".

In February 2019, security forces came to Akimov's house to confiscate a radio transmitter by court order. The villager refused to let them go home and give the equipment. Then an administrative protocol was drawn up against him on obscene language in a public place, according to which Akimov was arrested for 10 days.

Sources: Central District Military Court

To get top news faster, subscribe to our telegram and twitter .