A Moscow court affirms that a criticism of fascism means discrediting the Russian Army

@ElentirENG ES 3·26·2022 · 7:00 0

Vladimir Putin said his purpose in ordering the invasion of Ukraine was to "de-Nazify" that country, but critics of fascism are now persecuted in Russia.

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Fined for displaying a banner in Moscow that read "Fascism will not pass"

This Thursday, the Russian newspaper The Insider published a news with this title: "In Moscow, an activist was fined for picketing with a sign «Fascism will not pass». The slogan was considered discrediting for the Russian military." The news reports that the Tverskoy District Court in Moscow has fined Anna Krechetova 50,000 rubles for carrying a banner reading "Фашизм не пройдет" (Fascism will not pass). The Twitter account @frei_aw published a screenshot of the sentence on Thursday.

The sentence considers that this motto expresses "a negative attitude" towards the Russian armed forces

The text of the sentence, which mentions Krechetova by her last name and by the initials of her first name and her patronymic, indicates that the "crime" was committed in Pushkin Square in Moscow at 2:50 p.m. on Sunday, March 20. March 2022, "being in a public place, attracting the attention of an unlimited circle of people, as well as the media and bloggers, she carried and displayed a tool of visual agitation, namely a poster with «Fascism will not pass», which is actually similar in content to the information available on the public Internet, as well as on social networks that convey a negative attitude towards the ongoing military operation based on the decision of the President of the Russian Federation and the Decree of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation dated February 22, 2022 No. 35-CD «On the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation outside the territory of the Russian Federation»."

The sentence adds: "Therefore, Krechetova A.V. expressing a negative attitude towards the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, she carried out public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens."

A Russian citizen is fined for spitting on a letter Z

The conviction against Anna Krechetova is not the only surreal fine that has been handed down by the Russian judicial system in recent days. The Russian newspaper The Insider reports in the Russian city of Krasnodar, near the Black Sea, Alexander Kondratyev was sentenced to pay a fine of 30,000 rubles for spitting on a banner displaying a letter "Z". During the trial, Kondratiev said that he condemns fascism and that the letter "Z" reminds him of the fascist swastika.

Mikhail Benyash, Kondratiev's defense attorney, told The Insider: "Spitting on Z is not discrediting the military. The letter Z is not military, and spitting is not defamation. The expression of disagreement with the conduct of a military operation is also not discrediting. The right to dissent is guaranteed by article 29 of the Constitution." It definitely seems that Russia has returned to the absurd and repressive situation of Soviet times.

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Photo: Didor Sadulloev / Reuters.