The chief editor of "Mediazona" Sergey Smirnov was sentenced to 25 days of arrest for a joky repost

It's worth reminding that the journalist was detained on January 30 in the courtyard of his own house, when he went for a walk with his son. The detention took place a day before the second rally in support of opposition leader Alexey Navalny was held in the capital.

The reason for the arrest of the journalist was a post on his page with a photo of the vocalist of the "Tarakani" ("Cockroaches") group Dmitry Spirin with the signature "Spirin for Navalny". Below was information about a protest action planned for Sunday. The author of this post, which Smirnov repost on his page, played up the outward resemblance of the person depicted in the photo with Smirnov.

During the hearing on the case, the editor-in-chief explained that the joke was that he was once confused on the street with the rapper Oksimiron . Since then, acquaintances have made fun of his resemblance to various musicians. The editor-in-chief of Mediazona insisted in court on his innocence - he did not participate in the protest actions. The entire accusation of the journalist in court was based on the report of the police officers who had detained him. The journalist asked to summon them for questioning, but the defense was refused, the newspaper writes.

At the same time, as reported by Ekho Moskvy radiostation, the journalist was ready to go from the courthouse to the cell. He came to the meeting with a large bag and warm clothes in it in case he could not get off with a fine. Now the defense intends to challenge this court decision.