A YouTuber in Russia who posted a video of himself enjoying a round of Pokémon Go inside a church was convicted Thursday. Ruslan Sokolovsky was initially reported to be facing up to five years in prison for the act, but the Guardiansaid Thursday that he was given a three-and-a-half year suspended sentence instead. His alleged crime? "Inciting religious hatred."
Sokolovsky, who's reportedly been detained since October after sharing footage taken inside the Church of All Saints in Yekaterinburg, credited media coverage of his case for helping him avoid actual prison time. "Without the support from reporters, I would possibly have been given a real prison sentence," he said following his conviction Thursday, according to the Guardian.
Here's the video in question, which is said to have been shared in protest of a regional news segment strongly advising against the use of the popular augmented reality game in places of worship:
Sokolovsky's case inspired a wave of support on social media. Pussy Riot, the Moscow-based punk rock collective, tweeted multiple times about Sokolovsky's sentencing Thursday:
Back in 2012, three Pussy Riot members—Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevich—were arrested following a protest performance at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Their arrests were met with international protest.
