【Punjabi Archives】

If you happen to be Punjabi Archivesin Russia, don't play Pokémon Go inside a church. Even if that bloody Mewtwo is hiding there. You might end up in jail.

A 22-year-old Russian blogger, Ruslan Sokolovsky, was just given a three-and-a-half year suspended sentence after posting a video he took of himself playing Pokémon Goinside the Church of All Saints in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

The court found the blogger guilty of "inciting religious hatred" and insulting religious believers, the same offence that sent two members of the Pussy Riot feminist punk collective to prison for two years in 2012.

Ruslan Sokolovsky posted the video in question in direct response to news that people can be fined or imprisoned in Russia for playing Pokémon Goin churches. Along with trying to catch Pokémon (and finding out that the church is in fact a PokéStop), he joked about Jesus in the video.

"But, you know, I didn't catch the rarest Pokémon that you could find there — Jesus," he said in the video. "But I couldn't help it. They say [he] doesn't even exist, so I'm not really surprised."

Sokolovsky has been on house arrest since being detained in September. 

During the trial, Sokolovsky had pleaded not guilty and compared his punishment to those who were imprisoned for joking about communism under Stalin's rule, Meduzareported.

"I may be an idiot, but I am by no means an extremist," Sokolovksy said.

The blogger was also found guilty of "illegal trafficking of special technical equipment" after a pen with a built-in video camera had been discovered during the search of his home.