The verdict against Buddhist and programmer Ilya Vasilyev (Arvi Hacker) has been overturned.

The Moscow City Court has overturned the conviction of Buddhist and programmer Ilya Vasilyev (Arvi Hacker). This was reported by his lawyer, Gevorg Aleksanyan.

In June, Vasilyev was sentenced to eight years in a general regime penal colony in a case concerning alleged ‘military fakes’ (para. ‘d’ part 2 art. 207.3 of the Criminal Code).

The criminal case against Vasilyev was opened in June 2024 because of two posts in English published on Facebook. That same month, the court sent the man to a pre-trial detention centre (SIZO). At the end of October, he was formally charged with a final indictment that included only one of those posts—about Vladimir Putin refusing a Christmas truce in 2022. The other post—about the shelling of Dnipro in January 2023—was not included in the final charges.

Vasilyev was pressured in the pre-trial detention centre. He was not allowed to meet with a Buddhist priest and was refused medical assistance. In addition, his letters were not delivered to the recipients, because he included the phrase “political prisoners” in his correspondence. According to a Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) officer, there are supposedly no political prisoners in Russia, only “just prisoners.”

In February 2025, Vasilyev was sent to a punishment cell for 15 days for failing to put his hands behind his back. Vasilyev himself connected this disciplinary action to the fact that, in court, he had asked provocative questions to an FSB officer who is a witness in his case.

Despite the conviction being overturned, the programmer remains in custody.