In Kaliningrad, a Navalny supporter was fined 30 thousand under the law on involving children in the action

The Central District Court of Kaliningrad fined Ivan Luzin, a volunteer of Navalny’s headquarters, 30 thousand rubles in the case of involving minors in a public event. This was reported on Twitter by Navalny’s Kaliningrad headquarters.

The court found Luzin guilty under Part 1.1 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code (involving minors in an unapproved public event) due to a picket against torture and police violence. Punishment under this article is apparently being imposed for the first time since new amendments to the law on rallies came into force.

Ivan Luzin and two minor girls were detained on February 7 after a photo session on the topic of torture by law enforcement officers. They held posters: “Beating up in the police station. Alexander Orshulevich " and "Torture with an electric shocker. Victor Filinkov ."

“I wanted to hold a single picket. The girls were supposed to just help a little and take a photo. But when we got ready, it was already getting dark, so we only had time to do a photo shoot,” Luzin told OVD-Info.

After the arrest, the girls were reported for participation in an uncoordinated action and released. Ivan Luzin was kept in the police department, where two protocols were drawn up: about organizing an uncoordinated action (Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code) and for involving minors in it. On March 15, the court fined Luzin 20 thousand rubles under the first protocol.

At the meeting, one of the detainees, who was present as a witness, stated that she would have participated in the action without prompting from Luzin, since she did not accept torture.

According to the girl, the department tried to question her without her mother’s presence and after she refused to testify, citing Article 51 of the Constitution.

• In December, the State Duma adopted a law on fines “for involving children in unauthorized rallies.” Now activists who are found guilty under the new part of the rally article (Part 1.1 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code) face a fine of up to 50 thousand rubles or arrest of up to 15 days. Repeated violation of the law, as in the case of Part 8 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code, will be punishable by a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles, or arrest of up to 30 days.