Russian blogger found guilty of inciting religious hatred for playing Pokemon Go in Orthodox church

'Who could get offended if you're just walking around with your smartphone in a church?'

Ruslan Sokolovsky stands with his mother Yelena Chingina in court during his sentencing in Yekaterinburg, Russia (REUTERS/Alexei Kolchin)

A Russian blogger has been found guilty of inciting religious hatred and insulting believers for playing Pokémon Go in church.

Ruslan Sokolovsky was given a three-and-a-half year suspended sentence after he posted a video of him playing the game in an Orthodox church supposedly built on the spot where the last Russian tsar Nicholas II and his family were killed.

It is the same offence that sent two women from the Pussy Riot punk collective to prison for two years in 2012.

The video, taken in August 2016, received more than 1.9 million views.

Before going into the church, Sokolovsky said the risk of being arrested for playing games in church "is complete nonsense".

He asked: "Who could get offended if you're just walking around with your smartphone in a church?"

Sokolovsky, who has been in detention since October, pleaded not guilty.

Judge Yekaterina Shoponyak said earlier Sokolovsky's behaviour and his anti-religious videos manifested his "disrespect for society" and he "intended to offend religious sentiments".

He was also found guilty of "illegal trafficking of special technical equipment" after a pen with a built-in video camera was discovered during a search of his home.