A Moscow court has ordered the arrest in absentia of popular exiled novelist Boris Akunin over his criticism of Russias war against Ukraine, officialsannounced Tuesday.Authorities charged Akunin, who has not lived in Russia since 2014, with justifying terrorism and spreading fake news about the Russian army.
Russian law enforcement officials issued a warrant for his arrest last month.Though he remains one of Russias most widely read contemporary authors, Akunins books have since been withdrawn from stores and publishing houses across the country, and theaters have canceled productions based on his works.Moscows Basmanny District Court ruled to place Akunin, 67, under arrest for two months if authorities manage to have him extradited to Russia.If found guilty, the writer faces up to seven years in prison on terrorism charges and up to 10 years on wartime charges of fake news.Russias financial intelligence body Rosfinmonitoring has placed Akunin on its terrorist and extremist list, a designation that allows authorities to freeze his Russian bank accounts.Last week, Russias Justice Ministry added Akunin to its list of foreign agents under his real name Grigory Chkhartishvili.Akunin, who has spoken out against Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, co-founded the True Russia platform that helps Ukrainian refugees and exiled anti-war Russians.