A Russian court on Thursday (May 11) gave a suspended three and a half year jail sentence to a blogger who was detained after he played the Pokemon Go video game inside a Russian Orthodox church last year. <br /> <br />Ruslan Sokolovsky was found guilty of inciting religious hatred after posting a video on YouTube where he is seen playing Pokemon Go on his cell phone in the church. <br /> <br />In the video, which contains strong language mocking Christianity, Sokolovsky likens Jesus Christ to a Pokemon character and says he had decided to play the popular game inside the church because he had seen a news report saying people who did so could be fined or jailed. <br /> <br />The video garnered more than 1.9 million views, and Sokolovsky was temporarily confined to a pre-trial detention centre. <br /> <br />The court in the Urals region city of Yekaterinburg also sentenced 22-year-old Sokolovsky to 160 hours of compulsory community service and told him not to show up in public places. <br /> <br />"Generally I am satisfied as I remain free and I have a possibility to work for social projects," Sokolovsky said after the sentencing. <br /> <br />His lawyer said Sokolovsky was unlikely to appeal Thursday's verdict. <br /> <br />Amnesty International said on Thursday the case against Sokolovsky was a 'show trial' and that the Russian authorities had 'misused the criminal justice system' by applying 'draconian anti-extremist legislation'. <br /> <br />Inciting religious hatred is the same charge used to prosecute the Pussy Riot punk band in 2012 when they staged a cathedral protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Two of the band were given two-year jail sentences.
