Pokémon Go: Russian vlogger faces 'up to 5 years in jail' for 'inciting hatred' by playing game in Church

The 22-year-old has been detained for 'offending religious sensibilities'

Jack Shepherd
Monday 05 September 2016 16:44 BST
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A Russian vlogger has reportedly been detained for two months by authorities after “inciting hatred” by playing Pokémon Go in a Cathedral.

According to Vocativ, Ruslan Sokolovsky could face up to five years in jail if convicted, having been charged with “offending religious sensibilities”.

Back in August, the vlogger posted a video of himself playing the game, made in protest of a state-issued broadcast warning Pokémon trainers would be jailed under anti-blasphemy laws if caught catching creatures in places of worship.

In the offending video, Sokolovsky can be seen throwing Pokéballs at Poliwag and Zubat while in Yekaterinburg’s Church of All Saints. It remains unconfirmed whether the church is a Pokéstop.

According to Russian news website Meduza, via Gizmodo, police began investigating the 22-year-old soon after the video was posted online.

A spokesperson for the Russian Orthodox Church said in a statement that it was the provocative nature of the video, not playing the game, that led authorities to arrest Sokolovsky.

Despite this, head of the State Duma’s religious affairs committee, Jaroslav Nilov, told RIA Novosti that the investigators had yet to prove the vlogger violated Russia’s anti-blasphemy law.

“In my opinion, catching Pokémon is not an insult to religious feelings, because it is simply the use of a mobile phone application within religious buildings,” he told the publication.

Fans of the blogger - who is rumoured to be Team Mystic - began posting the hashtag #СвободуСоколовскому (#FreeSokolovsky) on Russian social media website Vkontakte.

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