MOSCOW (AP)– A previous Russian Orthodox monk, who rejected that the coronavirus existed and defied the Kremlin, was handed a seven-year jail sentence Friday.
Nikolai Romanov, 67, who was called Father Sergiy till his excommunication by the Russian Orthodox Church, advised his fans to disobey the Russian federal government’s lockdown steps and spread conspiracy theories about a worldwide plot to manage the masses.
A court in Moscow convicted him of prompting hatred. His legal representative right away revealed strategies to appeal.
Romanov functioned as a law enforcement officer throughout Soviet times, however after giving up the ranks was founded guilty of murder, burglary and attack and sentenced to 13 years in jail. He ended up being a monk after his release.
When the coronavirus pandemic started, he rejected its presence and knocked federal government efforts to stem the pandemic as “Satan’s electronic camp.” He spread out long-debunked conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and explained the vaccines established versus the infection as part of an international plot to manage the masses by means of microchips.
The monk chastised President Vladimir Putin as a “traitor to the Motherland” who was serving a Satanic “world federal government,” and knocked the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, and other leading clerics as “apostates” who should be “thrown away.”
Romanov advised fans to disobey the federal government’s lockdown steps and holed up at an abbey near Yekaterinburg that he established. He had lots of big military veterans impose his guidelines while the prioress and numerous nuns left.
The Russian Orthodox Church removed Romanov of his abbot’s rank for breaking monastic guidelines and later on excommunicated him, however he declined the judgments. Dealing with stiff resistance by numerous his advocates, church authorities and regional authorities was reluctant for months till lastly transferring to kick out Romanov and apprehend him.
Romanov has actually remained in custody considering that his arrest in December 2020. In November 2021, he was provided a 3 1/2-year sentence after being founded guilty of prompting self-destructive actions through preachings in which he prompted followers to “crave Russia,” and breaching liberty of conscience, allegations he rejected. The seven-year sentence will run simultaneously with the previous sentence.
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