Boris Kagarlitsky released after four months in custody for post about Crimean Bridge attack

The Supreme Court of the Republic of Komi released sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky on Tuesday after fining him 609,000 rubles (€6,250) for the public justification of terrorism over a post he made about an explosion on the Crimean Bridge last year, Russian media group RBC reported.

Reacting to the court ruling, Kagarlitsky admitted his relatively lenient punishment was due to him being “more famous” than the defendants in similar cases.

“Unfortunately, if this happens in some small town, in a local court, with local law enforcement officers, your fate will be much worse because nobody gets to hear about the case,” Kagarlitsky told Telegram channel SOTA.

The prosecutor had requested a custodial sentence of five and a half years and a two-year ban from operating a website.

Speaking prior to the verdict being announced, Kagarlitsky said: “I have always tried to follow the law, be a citizen, and work for the benefit of my country. I hope to receive a fair decision from the court.”

A court in the regional capital, Syktyvkar, placed Kagarlitsky in pre-trial detention in late July. The maximum punishment a court can give under the charge is seven years’ imprisonment.

The case against Kagarlitsky came about following a social media post he made on 8 October last year about an explosion on the Crimean Bridge. “From a military point of view, the meaning of what happened is more or less clear. There will be supply issues. And not only in Crimea,” Kagarlitsky wrote. His post also touched on the economic and political consequences of the explosion.

After his initial arrest, Kagarlitsky was also fined 40,000 rubles (€410) for failing to mention that he was a “foreign agent” in his posts, as required by Russian law.