Woman in Russia’s Omsk gets eight months of suspended sentence over social media comment

A court in Russia’s Omsk has punished a local woman with eight months of suspended sentence over a commentary she left on social media, reacting to the news that public transport fares would be raised, the court’s website says.

The woman was found guilty of “making public calls for extremist action.”

The headline she commented on read “Public transport fares to rise to 48 rubles [€0.77].” The woman’s comment roughly translates into English as “Fadina and others to the block” or “lynch Fadina and others.”

The news piece and the comment was later posted by the Omsk Live page on VK, Russia’s clone to Facebook.

The woman refused to provide testimony. She said she had written that comment “due to negative emotions” but did not imply literal calls for violent action.

Apart from the suspended sentence, the court barred the woman from “any activity connected with managing websites” for a year.