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Russian Blogger Given Suspended Sentence for 'Inciting Online Extremism'

RFE/RL's Russian Service

   MOSCOW - A court in Moscow has handed popular blogger Yegor Zhukov a
   three-year suspended sentence after finding him guilty of inciting
   extremism online in a case condemned as politically motivated.
   The Kuntsevo district court announced the verdictFridayas hundreds of
   supporters of Zhukov, 21, a student at Moscow's prestigious Higher
   School of Economics, gathered outside the court building in western
   Moscow.
   "The court has established that Zhukov made public calls for extremist
   activity using theinternet," Judge SvetlanaUkhnalevasaid.
   Zhukov was arrested in August amid protests that gripped Moscow for
   weeks this past summer as Russians vented against the country's
   repressive political system.
   "Of course, this is not an ultimate victory. A big thank you to
   everyone," Zhukov said after the verdict was announced.
   In his final court appearance, on Wednesday, Zhukov made an impassioned
   appeal to his supporters--and offered an indictment of Russia's
   political system.

   Economic inequality

   Russia's current political system has fostered economic inequality
   that, Zhukov said, destroys any opportunity for human prosperity, with
   the top 10 percent holding 90 percent of the country's wealth.
   "Among them, of course, there are very honorable citizens. But the bulk
   of this wealth was obtained not by honest labor, for the benefit of
   people, but by banal corruption," he said.
   Prior to his predawn arrest on August 2, Zhukov had already drawn a
   sizable audience on YouTube, where he had posted a series of video
   blogs in which he vented against President Vladimir Putin and promoted
   opposition protests across the country.

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