A Moscow court sentenced exiled Russian academic and anti-plagiarism advocate Dmitry Zayakin to five years in absentia on charges of extremism on Wednesday.

Zayakin was detained in August 2022 for allegedly “financing extremist activities” due to a 1,000 ruble ($13) donation he made to the Anti-Corruption Foundation led by the late opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

It is believed that he left Russia in October 2022, coinciding with the Interior Ministry’s decision to place him on its wanted list. A Navalny associate, Georgy Alburov, shared a photo on October 29 of that year, showing Zayakin arriving in Vilnius, Lithuania.

The authorities designated the Anti-Corruption Foundation, as well as Navalny’s broader political network, as “extremist” in 2021.

According to the independent news agency Mediazona, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow found Zayakin guilty of financing extremism and sentenced him in absentia on Wednesday.

Last month, through his attorney, Zayakin refuted the allegations.

He is a journalist and a co-founder of Dissernet, an online platform that investigates plagiarism within Russian academic institutions and publications. Volunteers from Dissernet have identified instances of plagiarism in the academic work of many high-ranking officials in the Russian government.

Zayakin has previously been designated as a “foreign agent” and included on the nation’s list of “terrorists and extremists.”