ROSTOV-ON-DON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2020) ON-DON, Russia, November 23 (Sputnik) - A military court in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don on Monday said that the sentencing of Mikhail Ustyantsev, the suspected head of the Russian cell of Aum Shinrikyo (a terrorist group, banned in Russia) would take place on Thursday.
According to the investigators, Ustyantsev created an Aum Shinrikyo branch together with several other people in 2010. He later spread the group's doctrine. urging followers to donate money that he sent to Aum Shinrikyo's leadership in Japan, thus engaging in an act of funding terrorism. During the trial Ustyantsev and his associates were accused of spreading propaganda via social networks, sending invitations for alleged wellness courses taught by Aum Shinrikyo members. He has been charged with creating a terrorist group, organizing a terrorist group's activities as well as creating a non-profit organization that infringes on Russian citizens' rights.
"The court has departed to the deliberation chamber to make a final ruling on the Ustyantsev criminal case until November 26, 11:00 a.m. [08:00 GMT],' a court spokesman told journalists.
Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanese religious sect founded in 1987, is notorious for its 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack, which led to it being designated a terrorist organization in several countries.
