Andrei Zayakin, co-founder of Dissernet, has been sentenced in absentia to five years in prison over a donation to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK).

During the closing arguments at the Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow, the prosecutor requested a five-year prison sentence for Andrei Zayakin, co-founder of Dissernet, on charges of financing extremist activity (Part 1, Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code) due to a single donation to the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). This was reported by Mediazona.

Zayakin is currently abroad, so he is being tried in absentia.

The criminal prosecution was prompted by a transfer of 1,000 rubles (about US$11) to FBK on 5 August 2021. Zayakin does not admit guilt.

The case was opened back in 2022. After his detention, Zayakin was subjected to a ban on certain activities. Soon after, he left Russia. In October 2022, he was declared wanted by the authorities, and in November he was added to the list of “foreign agents.”

14:27 Zayakin has been sentenced in absentia to five years in prison, Mediazona reports.

The defendant insisted on acquittal. “I do not consider myself guilty. I want to express my gratitude to my family for their love and understanding, to my lawyer [Biryukov] for their professionalism, and to my friends and colleagues for their support,” he said through his lawyer.

The headline of the news story was changed after information about the verdict was published.

• In 2021, FBK was designated as an extremist organisation. On 4 August 2021, this decision came into force after it was upheld by the appellate court. Transfers to FBK made after this date began to be classified by the Russian authorities as financing extremist activity.