A resident of Severomorsk was convicted of calling for a referendum on the separation of the Murmansk region from Russia.

Severyanin received a year and a half suspended under Art. 280.1 of the Criminal Code.

April 11, 2018 Severomorsky District Court of Murmansk region sentenced a local resident P. to one and a half years of imprisonment on probation a probationary period of one and a half years under Part 2 of Art. 280.1 of the Criminal Code (public calls for separatism via the Internet). The judgment has not yet entered into force.

According to the prosecutor's office, P. was persecuted by the fact that he is on the VKontakte social network " in the comments to the information and news post "Bark Sedov" no longer will belong to Murmansk" posted texts he made personally publications available for reading to an unlimited circle of persons, the following content: “It is necessary to separate the Murmansk region from Russia. Whole table Mendeleev in the bowels of the region. We need to hold a referendum, and all the money remained would be in the region”, “I am for a referendum”. Each resident of the Murmansk region for a personal account for 10 thousand euros”, “Separate from Russia”, which, according to the conclusion the expert is encouraged to take actions aimed at violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation ". It is also reported that " in the judicial meeting, P. fully admitted his guilt, repented of his deed, actively assisted the preliminary investigation authorities in the disclosure and investigation crimes ."

In our opinion, calls for holding a referendum should not be prosecuted. With our point of view, sanctions are appropriate only in the case of calls for violent action for separatist purposes. Therefore, we opposed the introduction of an article into the Criminal Code 280.1, without proper grounds limiting the discussion on the subject of the territorial composition of the Russian Federation.

Sources

• Case card No. 1-15/2018 // Website of the Severomorsky District Court of the Murmansk Region. April 2018
• A resident of the city of Severomorsk is accused of extremism // Prosecutor's office of the Murmansk region. April 18, 2018