The Verkh-Isetsky District Court of Yekaterinburg sent PR specialist Yaroslav Shirshikov into custody, who was one of the first to tell about the disappearance of The Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich (Gershkovich was detained in Yekaterinburg at the end of March and then arrested on a criminal case of espionage).
As reported on the website of the court, Shirshikov is accused of justifying terrorism (part 2 of article 205.2 of the Criminal Code, punishable by a fine of 300 thousand to 1 million rubles or a fine in the amount of the income of the convicted person for a period of three to five years, or imprisonment for a period of five to seven years with a ban on holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for up to five years). Shirshikov will stay in custody for two months.
The man does not admit his guilt. Shirshikov’s lawyer Fyodor Akchermyshev said he would appeal the court’s decision: the defense insisted on house arrest, TASS reports.
Akchermyshev reported to the E1 publication that Shirshikov was charged in connection with his publications about military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky, who died in an explosion in a St. Petersburg cafe. After the explosion, the PR man wrote on Telegram that he did not feel “a shadow of sadness” due to the death of the military correspondent. “Allegedly, in this way he justifies terrorist activities. <...> He does not deny the fact of publication, but at the same time he explains that he has never justified or supported terrorism in any of its forms,” the lawyer explained Shirshikov’s position.
On March 30, Shirshikov was one of the first to report the disappearance of The Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was later arrested on espionage charges. The PR man said that Gershkovich interviewed him.
In March 2020, Shirshikov was convicted under two criminal articles – for inciting mass riots against the construction of St. Catherine’s Cathedral in the center of Yekaterinburg and for slandering Nikolai Tsukanov, who served as presidential envoy to the Ural Federal District. In the summer of 2022, the PR specialist was fined 40 thousand rubles. under the article on discrediting the army.
