In the Penza region, the court again ordered arrest for activist Gorodisky for using a swastika on a social network.

Party activist Konstantin Borovoy was again arrested for pictures with Nazi symbols.

On June 1, 2017, from the message of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Penza Region, it became known that on May 12, the Kamensky City Court found a local resident Ivan Gorodisky guilty of an offense under Part 1 of Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (public display of Nazi symbols). He was sentenced to 10 days of arrest. The decision of the court has entered into force.

in December 2016 Gorodisky, head of the Penza regional branch of the Western Choice party, had already been arrested for displaying Nazi symbols. Law enforcement agencies said that after that, Gorodisky continued to purposefully distribute Nazi symbols on the VKontakte social network. He himself stated in court that after the December court decision, he posted a crossed-out image of a swastika on the social network. On his page, indeed, a picture is still published, on which the hammer and sickle and the swastika are crossed out. In addition, he published an anti-fascist caricature of the Kukryniksy with a swastika, which was changed in such a way that Putin's mask falls off Hitler's face.

We believe that Gorodisky did not pursue the goal of promoting the Nazi ideology, so the new court decision on his arrest is unlawful, like the previous one. Unfortunately, Russian law allows any display of Nazi symbols to be punished, regardless of the context.

The December court decision to arrest Gorodisky is currently being appealed to the ECtHR .

Sources

• Kirill Yartsev. A resident of Kamenka was punished for Nazi symbols in the social network // IC "Penzenskaya Pravda". 2017. June 1.
• Case card No. 5-285/2017 // Website of the Kamensky City Court.
• 1. May, 23rd.