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, prompted his fans to disobey the Russian federal government’s lockdown steps and spread conspiracy theories about an international plot to manage the masses.
A court in Moscow convicted him of prompting hatred. His attorney right away revealed strategies to appeal.
Romanov worked as a policeman throughout Soviet times, however after giving up the ranks was founded guilty of murder, break-in 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 a worldwide plot to manage the masses through 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 “tossed out.”
Romanov prompted fans to disobey the federal government’s lockdown procedures 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 a number of nuns left.
The Russian Orthodox Church removed Romanov of his abbot’s rank for breaking monastic guidelines and later on excommunicated him, however he turned down the judgments. Dealing with stiff resistance by numerous his advocates, church authorities and regional authorities was reluctant for months up until lastly transferring to force out Romanov and apprehend him.
Romanov has actually remained in custody given 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 advised 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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