{"id":301428,"date":"2017-03-13T14:20:54","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T14:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=301428"},"modified":"2017-03-13T14:20:54","modified_gmt":"2017-03-13T14:20:54","slug":"russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian blogger on trial for playing Pokemon game ‘in church’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Russia put a blogger on trial Monday on charges of offending religious believers and fomenting hatred by posting a video online that showed him hunting Pokemons in a church.<\/p>\n

Ruslan Sokolovsky, 22, faces up to seven years in prison over the YouTube video of him zapping Pokemons on a smartphone in a Russian Orthodox church in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.<\/p>\n

The video which Sokolovsky posted in August 2016 has been viewed more than 1.6 million times on YouTube.<\/p>\n

He has pleaded not guilty in the case which has been compared to that of the Pussy Riot punk art group, whose 2012 “punk prayer” in a Moscow cathedral led to two-year prison terms.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t aim to offend anyone,” Sokolovsky said in court in a video broadcast by Life News, adding that he was ready to apologise if anyone was offended.<\/p>\n

He said he created the videos “with critical and polemical aims”, describing himself as an atheist.<\/p>\n

The Russian Orthodox Church has accused him of blasphemy over the stunt in a church built on the spot where the Bolsheviks shot Russia’s last tsar and his family in 1918.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t ask these people to watch my video clips” Sokolovsky told journalists during a break.<\/p>\n

“Who is the Russian Orthodox Church that I have to publicly repent in front of them?”<\/p>\n

Sokolovsky spent several months in prison ahead of the trial, though he is now under house arrest.<\/p>\n

Amnesty International has condemned the charges against him as “farcical” and called him a prisoner of conscience.<\/p>\n

He also faces a separate charge of illegally possessing a “spy pen” with a recording function, which was found in a search of his flat.<\/p>\n

In court, he said that the pen is widely available to buy and unsuitable for covert recording.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

Source: Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russia put a blogger on trial Monday on charges of offending religious believers and fomenting hatred by posting a video online that showed him hunting Pokemons in a church. Ruslan Sokolovsky, 22, faces up to seven years in prison over the YouTube video of him zapping Pokemons on a smartphone in a Russian Orthodox church […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[117],"tags":[5005,5006],"yoast_head":"\nRussian blogger on trial for playing Pokemon game 'in church' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Russian blogger on trial for playing Pokemon game 'in church' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Russia put a blogger on trial Monday on charges of offending religious believers and fomenting hatred by posting a video online that showed him hunting Pokemons in a church. Ruslan Sokolovsky, 22, faces up to seven years in prison over the YouTube video of him zapping Pokemons on a smartphone in a Russian Orthodox church […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-13T14:20:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/\",\"name\":\"Russian blogger on trial for playing Pokemon game 'in church' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-13T14:20:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-13T14:20:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Russian blogger on trial for playing Pokemon game ‘in church’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"description\":\"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\",\"name\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Russian blogger on trial for playing Pokemon game 'in church' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Russian blogger on trial for playing Pokemon game 'in church' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","og_description":"Russia put a blogger on trial Monday on charges of offending religious believers and fomenting hatred by posting a video online that showed him hunting Pokemons in a church. Ruslan Sokolovsky, 22, faces up to seven years in prison over the YouTube video of him zapping Pokemons on a smartphone in a Russian Orthodox church […]","og_url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/","og_site_name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3","article_published_time":"2017-03-13T14:20:54+00:00","author":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@citi973","twitter_site":"@citi973","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/","name":"Russian blogger on trial for playing Pokemon game 'in church' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-03-13T14:20:54+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-13T14:20:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/03\/russian-blogger-on-trial-for-playing-pokemon-game-in-church\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Russian blogger on trial for playing Pokemon game ‘in church’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/","name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","description":"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1","name":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kojo Akoto Boateng"},"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301428"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301428\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}