The son of a Supreme Court judge in Tatarstan has been sent to a penal colony in a case involving “fake news” and justifying terrorism.

The Central District Military Court has sentenced Marat Gilmanov to six years in a general regime penal colony for allegedly spreading “fake news” about the Russian army (part “d” of Article 207.3 section 2 of the Criminal Code), calling for extremism (Article 280 section 2), and justifying terrorism (Article 205.2 section 2). The court informed OVD-Info about the verdict.

Gilmanov has also been banned for three years from administering websites and channels on the internet.

The verdict was delivered on 17 April.

It is not known exactly which statements led to Gilmanov’s prosecution. The media outlet “Arguments and Facts—Kazan” reported that the justification of terrorism charge related to comments about Russian soldiers, missile strikes, the Crocus City Hall attack, and the war in Ukraine. At the same time, “Business Online” noted that the charge stemmed from a comment about Russian military personnel under a post about peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to “AiF’s” sources in law enforcement, the other two charges were brought because of Gilmanov’s comments on social media.

“Izvestia,” citing a source, wrote that since December 2022 Gilmanov had posted “radical comments” in pro-Ukrainian Telegram channels and also articles justifying a Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea in August 2023. It is unclear whether these posts were included in the charges.

• News of Gilmanov’s detention first appeared in December 2024. At that time, he was remanded in custody by the Basmanny District Court in Moscow.
• Tatarstan media reported that Gilmanov’s father is Radik Gilmanov, chair of the qualifying judicial board for the republic. He was elected to this position in 2017. The current board chair is now listed as Roman Davydov. Since 18 December 2024, the board’s sessions have been held under Davydov’s leadership, though previously Gilmanov had chaired them, and there has been no official news of Gilmanov stepping down.
• Radik Gilmanov remains a judge of the Supreme Court of Tatarstan. He presides over civil cases.