A man who stunned commuters by pretending he had coronavirus on a packed train has had his charge upgraded and could now face up to seven years behind bars.
The prankster is charged with premeditated hooliganism, after the incident on the Moscow Metro.
Smartphone footage filmed by accomplices show a masked Karomatullo Dzhaborov falling to the ground on a packed carriage and pretending to have a ‘coronavirus attack’ in full view of stunned commuters.
As some passengers try to help him, suddenly one of Dzhaborov’s friends screams “coronavirus”.
Within seconds, the carriage quickly empties at the next stop.
According to local media, the police initially charged 25-year-old Dzhaborov and his friends with hooliganism for the stunt.
However, prosecutors have reportedly upgraded the charge and he could now face up to seven years in prison for the prank.
His lawyer Roman Shakhmantov said: “He is no longer accused of simply hooliganism, but now premeditated hooliganism.”
In Russia, hooliganism has been listed as a criminal offence, similar to disorderly conduct, and is used as a catch-all charge for prosecuting unapproved behaviour.
The charge is now determined to be ‘premeditated’ due to the alleged involvement of other people.
