"Don't you dare call me a foreign agent!" Ilya Yashin gave a speech in court.

Today Ilya Yashin attended the meeting via video link Smolensky regional vesselsThe politician's complaint about fines for posts on his social media without "foreign agent" markings was reviewed. 

In his speech, Yashin stated that the status of a foreign agent was offensive to him, since he had dedicated his life to defending Russia's interests as he understood them. 

"Yes, my understanding is fundamentally different from President Putin's. I believe that people are the most valuable asset, that the state's job is to preserve and develop human capital. He's sending hundreds of thousands to slaughter in a senseless war and provoking mass emigration. I believe Russia should be open to the world and make allies, not enemies. He's locking Russia down and threatening the world with a nuclear bomb. I'm for freedom, but Putin has clung to power and imposed a tyranny with a primitive cult..." said Ilya Yashin. 

The court upheld the decision, a NeMoskva correspondent reports. The judge spoke Alexey Steinle.

Yashin's speech can be read in full. here.

In December 2022, the politician was sentenced to 8,5 years in prison for allegedly spreading fake news about the army. Yashin is currently serving his second consecutive sentence in solitary confinement. After 15 days in solitary confinement, prison administration sent him back to solitary confinement for another 12 days. The formal grounds for his incarceration include violating prison rules (getting up "three minutes after the 'rise' command") and violating prison rules (taking off his uniform to change into a T-shirt).