He is a resident of Moscow. Late in the evening of 26 November 2013, he was detained together with twelve other people during a raid on the hostel where he was living at the time. He is charged with preparing a terrorist attack in the Kirgizia movie theater and possession of ammunition. In the case file there is a report of Maslakov’s interrogation as a suspect, according to which he allegedly knew that weapons and explosives were stored in the hostel, and that the hostel hostess and other guests spoke about the need to wage jihad in the territory of Russia, but Maslakov stated in court that he had not given such testimony, and the protocol, which he signed without reading because he could not see much and was without glasses, was read to him in a distorted form by the operatives. Human rights activists believe that there is no convincing evidence of his involvement in the crime; in their opinion, the persecution was part of a campaign to pressure Muslims. On 22 April 2016, he was sentenced to 12 years in a strict regime colony. He has HIV and hepatitis. He had been given a suspended sentence for copyright infringement while trading with laser discs. In October 2020, he was released for health reasons. In August 2021, Maslakov was arrested again: the court agreed with the prosecutor’s submission that since Maslakov was terminally ill, he did not need to be treated on the outside. On 20 December 2022, a Tyumen court passed a verdict in the case of an insult and use of violence against colony staff brought against Maslakov; details are unknown. Artur Maslakov was recognised as a group 2 disabled person indefinitely and was diagnosed with severe amblyopia – a disorder of the visual analyser that cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses.