Russian court suspends prison sentence of opposition figure | Government and politics

The decision by the Moscow City Court, the capital’s highest municipal court, came a day after Ilya Yashin’s conviction.

Yashin, who has publicly criticized Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine, was arrested Monday night in a Moscow park. Police said he grabbed an officer by his uniform and insulted the police, which Yashin denied.

In May, Yashin was ordered to pay 90,000 rubles ($1,700) for discrediting the Russian military.

Russia has clamped down on criticism of its “special military operation” in Ukraine. A well-known dissident, Vladimir Kara-Murza, was arrested in April and remains imprisoned pending trial for spreading false information about the military. The offense is punishable by up to 15 years.