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Russian Blogger to Be Charged with Extremism for Syria Post

Anton Nosik

Prominent Russian blogger Anton Nosik is to be charged with "inciting hatred" for an online post "warmly welcoming" Russian air strikes in Syria, the RBC news website reported Wednesday.

The Investigative Committee will bring official charges against the blogger on April 26, Nosik's lawyer Sergei Badamshin told RBC.

A criminal case was opened into Nosik in November 2015 after a publication on blog service LiveJournal titled, "To raze Syria to the ground."

In the post, released the day after Russia started military operations in the country, Nosik compared Syria to Nazi Germany.

He also said that for him and "any other Israeli" Syria was and remains the "real military enemy," RBC reported.

Nosik told RBC he will not remove the post from the website as he does not consider his statements extremist.

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