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Russian who played 'Pokemon Go' in church is convicted of inciting religious hatred
Source: Washington Post via Toronto Star
Russian who played ‘Pokemon Go’ in church is convicted of inciting religious hatred
By DAVID FILIPOVThe Washington Post
Thu., May 11, 2017
MOSCOW — A judge in Russia’s fourth-largest city has convicted a blogger who played Pokemon Go in a renowned Orthodox cathedral of inciting religious hatred and insulting the feelings of believers, the state RIA-Novosti news agency reported Thursday.
Ruslan Sokolovsky, 22, was given a suspended sentence of 3½ years for playing the mobile phone game during a service in the Church of All Saints in the Ural mountain city of Yekaterinburg last August.
The argument could be made that he got off easy.
The maximum sentence under a law that prevents the “violation of the right to freedom of conscience and belief” is seven years imprisonment, though prosecutors only asked for half of that.
“But, you know, I didn’t catch the rarest Pokemon that you could find there — Jesus,” Sokolovsky, says at the end of a YouTube video he posted of himself playing the game. “They said it doesn’t even exist, so I’m not really surprised.”
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By DAVID FILIPOVThe Washington Post
Thu., May 11, 2017
MOSCOW — A judge in Russia’s fourth-largest city has convicted a blogger who played Pokemon Go in a renowned Orthodox cathedral of inciting religious hatred and insulting the feelings of believers, the state RIA-Novosti news agency reported Thursday.
Ruslan Sokolovsky, 22, was given a suspended sentence of 3½ years for playing the mobile phone game during a service in the Church of All Saints in the Ural mountain city of Yekaterinburg last August.
The argument could be made that he got off easy.
The maximum sentence under a law that prevents the “violation of the right to freedom of conscience and belief” is seven years imprisonment, though prosecutors only asked for half of that.
“But, you know, I didn’t catch the rarest Pokemon that you could find there — Jesus,” Sokolovsky, says at the end of a YouTube video he posted of himself playing the game. “They said it doesn’t even exist, so I’m not really surprised.”
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Read more: https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/05/11/russian-who-played-pokemon-go-in-church-is-convicted-of-inciting-religious-hatred.html
