Ryazan region: fine for pictures with swastikas and hammer and sickle

A resident of the Ryazan region was fined under Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for publishing pictures with a swastika and a hammer and sickle, as well as a collage with Putin.

On June 7, 2016, the Shatsky District Court of the Ryazan Region fined Zaur Korolev, a resident of the village of Putyatino, 2,000 rubles, finding him guilty under Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (public display of Nazi symbols).

According to Korolev himself, the claims of law enforcement agencies caused publications on his page on the VKontakte social network. In particular, he was charged with placing a picture with a swastika on one scale and a hammer and sickle on the other, as well as images of a swastika and a hammer and sickle fastened together. In addition, the court considered the publication on the social network of a collage with Vladimir Putin in Nazi uniform, which was accompanied by statements by Vyacheslav Volodin about the president and Rudolf Hess about Hitler, to be a public display of Nazi symbols.

We believe that the publication of such images cannot be interpreted as being carried out in order to promote Nazi ideology, and therefore the persecution of Korolev is unlawful. However, Russian anti-extremist legislation punishes any display of Nazi symbols without regard to context.

Sources

• Inc. inf.