Russian authorities have jailed the founder of the Russian Internet

Alexei Soldatov, a pioneer of the Russian Internet and founder of the first Internet service provider in this country, has been sentenced by a Moscow court to two years in prison on charges of abuse of office.

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Soldatov, 72, reportedly terminally ill, was detained on charges of abuse of power for managing a pool of IP addresses for an organisation in which he allegedly had no position. His family believes the judgement is essentially a death sentence.

Soldatov played a key role in the creation of the Relcom network, which connected Soviet research centres and established the Soviet Union's first link to the global internet in 1990. During the attempted KGB coup d'état in 1991, Relcom continued to operate, emphasising its role in circumventing traditional media controls and connecting people both in the Soviet Union and around the world.

Source: CEPA