2024-07-23 12:15:29
A German court sentenced today to more than 5 years in prison a Russian citizen who tried to set fire to the correspondent bureau of the RIA Novosti agency, already banned on EU territory, in Berlin in 2022, DPA reported.
The Berlin District Court found the 56-year-old man guilty of attempted murder and attempted arson for his actions that led to the loss of human life. The court found him guilty of setting fire to the basement of a block of flats in the Shteglitz district, where the office of the Russian news agency RIA Novosti was located.
Although the Berlin court found that the man did not intend to kill, he accepted the possible fatal consequences of his actions. However, for unknown reasons, the improvised explosive and incendiary device did not ignite. According to the indictment, it was discovered only a few days later in a shaft in the basement and defused by explosives experts of the local police, BTA reported.
The Russian, who was arrested in mid-December 2022, denies the charges and claims he was the victim of a conspiracy. The man has lived in Germany for decades and became famous in Berlin for his protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. During the 11-month trial, he said he wanted to fight Russian President Vladimir Putin “only by legal means.”