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Russian Nationalist Group's Coordinator Found Not Guilty Of Insulting Muslims


KAZAN, Russia -- The coordinator of the Russian Alliance nationalist group in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan has been found not guilty of insulting Muslims.

However, a court in Kazan on June 14 found Mikhail Sharov guilty of placing video insulting members of "a certain ethnic group" on the Internet.

Sharov was sentenced to 48 days of community work.

Investigators insisted that Sharov placed a picture of the Koran with a piece of pork meat and a piece of dung on it on his website last year.

Sharov denies the accusation, saying the picture had been placed on his site by unknown hackers.

The judge also issued warnings to investigators and Tatarstan's prosecutor-general for, what he called "illegally obtaining evidence, data falsification, and procedural violations of investigations."

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

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