A judge in Siberia’s Novosibirsk region has sentenced an activist from the republic of Altai to five years in prison after she was found guilty of inciting terrorism, the exiled news outlet Mediazona reported Monday.
Aruna Arna rose to prominence last summer during protests against controversial municipal reforms in the republic of Altai. In September, she was arrested and charged with inciting terrorism.
The following month, Arna told reporters in court that authorities pressed charges against her for sharing videos set to the songs “Varshavyanka” and “The Internationale” on her Telegram channel. Neither song is banned in Russia.
The videos contained footage of protests, scenes from disasters and images of Russian politicians, according to local media, which authorities were said to have interpreted as incitement to terrorism.
Mediazona said a judge at the Second Eastern District Military Court in Novosibirsk found Arna guilty of the charges and handed her a five-year sentence at a medium-security prison.
She was also banned from running websites for two years.
Arna is a mother of three whose youngest was still being breastfed at the time of her arrest last year.
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