ST. PETERSBURG. July 6 (Interfax) - A court in St. Petersburg has extended the arrest of Andrei Russkikh, a psychologist from Belarus, who is charged with insulting the president in Belarus.
"The detention of Andrei Russkikh has been extended until November 27, 2022," the unified press service for St. Petersburg's courts told Interfax on Tuesday.
According to earlier reports, Russkikh, a citizen of Belarus, was detained at the St. Petersburg Moskovsky Railway station on May 28. According to lawyer Maria Belyayeva, the man is charged with publicly insulting the president and fanning a social feud in Belarus. The cases are connected to comments made on social networks. The man has not admitted his guilt.
After the detention, the St. Petersburg Smolninsky District Court took Russkikh into custody until July 6 to ensure his possible handover to Belarusian law enforcement agencies.
According to public information, Russkikh is a psychologist, coach and consultant in the field of phobic anxiety disorders.
Belarusian laws penalize the incitement to social enmity with up to five years in prison, while public insults of the President are punishable with up to four years of imprisonment.
On June 1, a court in St. Petersburg upheld the decision of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office to extradite Belarusian citizen Yana Pinchuk charged in Belarus with administering an extremist Telegram channel. She is accused of incitement to social enmity, calls for doing harm to national security, and the establishment of an extremist network. She pleaded not guilty and said her prosecution was politically motivated