MOSCOW, Oct 24, Andrey Vasilchin. The day before, the Chertanovsky Court of Moscow granted a petition to impose a preventive measure against the famous Russian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Ilyas Yakubov in the form of detention on charges of publicly justifying terrorist activities. The arrest period is set until December 11, the 31-year-old athlete himself denies guilt.
The scandal erupted last weekend after Yakubov published a video from the gym on his Instagram account (owned by Meta, whose activities are banned in Russia as extremist). , in which he trains to the overdubbed speech of terrorist Shamil Basayev, who claimed responsibility for a number of bombings in Moscow in the 2000s, the seizure of a school in Beslan and the taking of hostages at the Dubrovka Theater Center.
Later, the athlete deleted the video, but this did not save the MMA fighter from the federal wanted list.
What is known about Ilyas Yakubov?
Let us note that Friday’s fight between Yakubov and ex-Bellator fighter Vyacheslav Vasilevsky at the tournament in Moscow was cancelled. The arrested athlete will be replaced by Maxim Fedorov, nicknamed Airborne.
What threatens the pop star MMA? Yakubov, who arrived from Abu Dhabi from the grand UFC 294 tournament, will be tried under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Public calls for terrorist activities, public justification of terrorism or propaganda of terrorism.”
According to it, public calls for terrorist activities, public justification of terrorism or propaganda of terrorism, committed using the media or on the Internet, are punishable by a fine in the amount of 300 thousand to one million rubles or in the amount of the salary or other income of the convicted person for a period of three to five years. . Or imprisonment for a term of five to seven years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to five years.