Russian coronavirus-denying ex-monk sentenced to 7 years

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — A coronavirus-denying former Russian Orthodox monk has been given a seven-year sentence on charges of inciting hatred. Nikolai Romanov, who was known as Father Sergiy until his excommunication by the Russian Orthodox Church, urged his followers to disobey the Russian government’s lockdown measures and spread conspiracy theories about a global plot to control the masses. He chastised President Vladimir Putin as a “traitor to the Motherland.” A court in Moscow convicted him of inciting hatred. His lawyer immediately announced plans to appeal. Romanov has been in custody since his arrest in December 2020.