Russian Man Who Was Imprisoned For Burning The Qur'an Sentenced To 14 Years On Accusation Of Betray

JAKARTA - A Russian man who was jailed for burning the Koran was found guilty by a court on Monday in a separate treason case and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

A regional court in Volgograd in southwestern Russia said it had punished Nikita Zhuravel (20) for the state's betrayal for taking an online response with a member of the Ukrainian Security Service and for the "actions aimed at the security of the Russian Federation".

The Russian Attorney General's Office said last month Zhuravel was also accused of sending footage of freight trains carrying fighter aircraft and information about the movement of cars linked to Russian military bases to a Ukrainian intelligence representative.

Zhuravel has pleaded guilty to the crime, the court said in a statement on Telegram on Monday, adding it was against what Moscow called a special military operation in Ukraine.

The office published a video showing armed guards dribbler Zhuravel, with short hair and beards, down the stairs of the court building in handcuffs.

Zhuravel's case attracted attention last year when Chechen Leader Ramzan Kadyrov published a video showing his son Adam (15) beating and kicking him while he was in prison in Chechnya, pending trial for burning the Qur'an in Volgograd, his hometown.

Zhuravel served a sentence of three and a half years in prison after being found guilty in February under Russian law prohibiting violations of adherents of religion. Investigators say he has confessed to burning the Qur'an in public in actions financed by Ukrainian intelligence.

Reuters was unable to immediately contact his lawyer to inquire about the reported guilt and whether he planned to file an appeal.

The case of betrayal, which was carried out behind closed doors, has almost never resulted in release, according to official statistics.

The number of such cases has risen sharply in Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine, as intelligence agencies carried out a crackdown on suspected spies and foreign agents.

Yevgeny Smirnov, a member of a Russian lawyer association called Pervy Otdel (First Department) who has in the past helped defend people accused of treason, said Russia's Federal Security Service, FSB, sometimes tries to trap people.

He said the FSB contacted people known to oppose the war via the internet and encouraged them to commit crimes, such as burning military buildings or sending sensitive information related to the Russian military.

Reuters was unable to independently verify his statement. Russia rarely comments on individual criminal cases.