‘Minecraft’ Teen Gets Prison Time For Plotting ‘Terrorism’ In Virtual World
As far as terrorists go, most of them don’t plan on blowing up buildings in virtual worlds.
That’s why many people were caught by surprise when a group of Russian teenagers was arrested for allegedly planning to destroy a fake government building in Minecraft, with one sentenced to five years in prison.
Nikita Uvarov, a 16-year-old, was sentenced to a five-year jail stint by a Siberian military court for “training for terrorist activities” after he failed to cooperate with the authorities, rights lawyer Pavel Chikov told Euronews.
The site reported that Uvarov and his two friends had been detained two years ago for spreading leaflets supporting a Moscow anarchist activist, who was on trial for vandalism at the time.
It appears the teens had placed their leaflets in a local Russian security agency (FSB) building, and after police looked at the information in their phones, found that the boys had planned to blow up a similar building they recreated in the game.
Investigators had alleged the teens were learning to make improvised explosives, and had practiced using them in abandoned buildings, accusing them of “participating in a terrorist organization.”
Despite the fact that the building didn’t exist in real life, the teens were still taken to charge, with Uvarov being sentenced—though he pleaded not guilty to the crime, as per Futurism.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time young people have been arrested on questionable charges. Euronews noted that in August 2020, three young activists in Russia were sentenced to jail for “plotting to overthrow” the government.
Earlier that year, seven other anti-fascist youths were sentenced to between six and 18 years of imprisonment on terror-related charges, with most of them saying they had only confessed due to being tortured and beaten.
“For the last time in this court I want to say: I am not a terrorist,” Uvarov told the Novaya Gazeta.
“I just would like to finish my studies, get an education, and go somewhere far away from here,” he added.
[via Futurism and Euronews, cover image via Nikkimeel | Dreamstime.com]
