Buryatia: a blow to the Grammar Nazis

In March 2015, public activist Maria Burdukovskaya was fined in Uran-Ude for displaying Nazi symbols.

On March 16, 2015, it became known that a well-known public activist in Buryatia, Maria Burdukovskaya, was found guilty under Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (propaganda or public demonstration of Nazi symbols) and fined 1,000 rubles.

According to the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Buryatia, in June 2014, she posted an image of an eagle and a swastika on her page on the VKontakte social network. On March 5, 2015, police officers drew up a protocol on an administrative offense, after which the materials were submitted to the court.

The reason for the administrative persecution was the reposting of the symbol of the Grammar Nazi movement - an image of an eagle reminiscent of the Nazi, with the inscription "Grammatik Macht Frei" ("Grammar makes free"). (In different versions, the eagle holds in its paws either a stylized Latin letter G, or, indeed, a swastika.)

Burdukovskaya stated that she was not engaged in propaganda of Nazism and published a post " in support of the correctness and purity of the Russian language ," but the Ulan-Ude Railway Court did not take her arguments into account.

We consider this verdict unjustified. From our point of view, the images of the swastika and the eagle, indeed, could not be considered in isolation from the context of the image. Unfortunately, the current legislation provides for punishment both for propaganda and for any other public demonstration of prohibited symbols, which very often does not have propaganda purposes.

Sources

• PR on a fascist swastika was "made" by a member of the United Russia party in Buryatia // Ulanmedia.ru. 2015. March 16.
• Ulyanova Love. Well-known social activist of Buryatia Maria Burdukovskaya convicted of wearing a swastika // Number one (Ulan-Ude). 2015. March 16.
• A resident of Ulan-Ude was fined for Grammar Nazism // Meduza. 2015. March 17.