In Rubtsovsk, Altai Krai, a court fined local resident Maxim Yusov 30 thousand rubles under an article on discrediting the Russian army. This was reported by OVD-Info.
According to the court, Yusov posted a photo of a car with the inscription “No to War” on his “Telegram page”. This is probably Yusov’s personal account in the messenger. The accused pleaded not guilty, noting that the phrase “No to war” does not discredit the Russian army. According to Yusov, he is in favor of “no war anywhere in the world.”
- The administrative article on discrediting the army was adopted eight days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The law provides for fines of 30 to 50 tax-free minimum incomes for public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Russian Armed Forces in a “special military operation” (as the Russian authorities call the war in Ukraine). The term “public” includes both posts and comments, as well as messages in private chats or conversations with cellmates.
- Repeated violations entail criminal liability. Russians are being persecuted not only for opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but also for neutral slogans such as “No to War.”
- Since the beginning of March last year, Russian courts have received at least 8055 <> administrative cases on the so-called discrediting of the army. Mediaphone analyzed the court data.
- It is unclear how many people have been prosecuted under this article, as the police regularly draw up several reports under the same article against the same person. For example, in the Pushkinsky District Court of St. Petersburg, Mediaphone found 15 administrative cases of “discredit” against one person, drawn up on the same day for 15 different positions.
