A Russian prosecutor called for a three-year prison sentence for a youth activist from the Tatarstan region who is on trial over a social-media post praising the killing of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Florida last year.

The prosecutor made the recommendation on January 31 at the trial of Ramil Ibragimov at a military court in the Volga River city of Samara.

The verdict and sentence are expected on February 1.

Ibragimov, the head of Tatarstan's Union of Young Leaders of Innovations, was charged with "public calls for terrorism and justifying terrorist activities" over a June 14 Instagram post that supported the killing of people it referred to as "fags."

In vulgar language, the post expressed regret that injured survivors of the attack "did not croak."

The post came two days after gunman Omar Mateen fatally shot 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Ibragimov acknowledges the post but pleaded not guilty.

"I do not by any means justify murder, which along with homosexuality is considered a grave sin in all religions," he told the court on January 31.

He said that what he did was "stupid and emotional."