The proceedings were held behind closed doors, and it is not known which posts or comments were attributed to Britanishsky. According to Slovo Zashchite, the case was triggered by an internet comment consisting of a single word; which word has not been disclosed.
Judge Konstantin Yershov found Britanishsky guilty under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code ("justification of terrorism on the internet"). Alongside the prison term, he was banned from administering websites for two years, OVD-Info reported. He did not admit guilt, Bumaga reported.
The prosecution had sought six years in a penal colony.
Britanishsky was detained in late March this year. According to Slovo Zashchite, security officers arrived at around six in the morning, broke down the front door of a communal apartment and began opening rooms. Britanishsky's father said he did not open the door for a long time, after which, he said, the officers struck him in the face with the door, leaving a bruise.
He said the door was broken down onto his face and he was thrown to the floor with his arms twisted behind his back. According to him, his neighbours were also put on the floor, after which the lead investigator arrived and said: "I'm sorry, it happens."
Since April, Britanishsky has been listed in the Rosfinmonitoring register of "extremists and terrorists." Before his arrest he worked in building design.
Yevgeny Britanishsky comes from a family of St Petersburg cultural figures. His father, Yevgeny Britanishsky Sr, was a poet and restorer; according to Slovo Zashchite, about a third of the statues in St Petersburg's Summer Garden are copies made by him. His uncle, Vladimir Britanishsky, was a poet, prose writer and translator of Polish and American literature whose work, Radio Liberty notes, influenced Joseph Brodsky. His grandfather Lev Britanishsky was a Soviet artist and a member of the "Young Art" and "Circle of Artists" societies.