A young Russian man previously jailed in the republic of Chechnya for burning the Quran was sentenced to an additional 13 years and six months in prison on charges of treason, Russian media reported Monday, citing court documents.
Nikita Zhuravel, 20, was accused last month of sharing videos of Russian military equipment and aircraft with Ukraine’s SBU security service in March 2023.
In February, a Chechen court sentenced Zhuravel to three and a half years in prison for offending religious believers by burning the Quran in the Volgograd region of southern Russia.
Zhuravel accused Adam Kadyrov, the 15-year-old son of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, of beating him in pre-trial detention in August 2023. Kadyrov later shared a video of the assault, which law enforcement declined to investigate.
Following the widely publicized incident, several regional authorities awarded the younger Kadyrov state honors.
On Monday, the Volgograd Regional Court convicted Zhuravel of “high treason,” sentencing him to an additional 13 years and six months at a maximum-security prison, according to the v1.ru news website.
He will now spend a total of 14 years in prison on the combined charges, prosecutors said later on Monday.
It remains unclear whether Zhuravel pleaded guilty to the new treason charges. His trial was held behind closed doors, with Zhuravel transported from Chechnya to Volgograd for hearings that began on November 14.
The human rights group Memorial has designated Zhuravel a political prisoner.
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