MOSCOW, January 21 (RAPSI) – Muscovite Mark Galperin, who was jailed for eight days for unauthorized protest in support of Charlie Hebdo victims, is now facing criminal prosecution, up to five years in prison, Interfax reported on Wednesday, citing a law enforcement source.

The source states that a criminal case was opened against Galperin on the grounds of repeated violation of protesting, gathering and picketing rules for citrizens (Criminal Code article 212.1). If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison

Last week, The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow slapped Galperin with a total of 38 days of administrative arrest for unauthorized protest, after he was detained on January 10 while publicly displaying a 'Je suis Charlie' poster, in support of the victims of recent terror attack in France.

On January 7, French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was attacked as two gunmen forced their way into the office of the magazine in Paris and opened fire, killing 12 and injuring 11.

The slogan 'Je suis Charlie' appeared several hours after the attack and made its way around the world.

Following that, Galperin was detained on January 15 for unauthorized protest in support of the recently convicted opposition activist and anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny.

‘Je suis Charile’ protest cost Galperin eight days of administrative arrest, with additional 30 days issued for repeated offense in the Navalny protest.