Vladikavkaz resident fined for video "Hitler and Skype"

An 18-year-old Vladikavkaz resident was fined for using a swastika in a scene from the film “Bunker” that was re-dubbed in 2009.

On May 28, 2019, it became known that the Leninsky District Court of Vladikavkaz fined an 18-year-old city resident under Part 1 of Art. 20.3 Code of Administrative Offenses (public display of Nazi symbols).

A Vladikavkaz resident was punished for posting a video “Hitler and Skype” containing an image of a swastika on his page on the VKontakte social network.

The video "Hitler and Skype" belongs to a popular online series of satirical videos created by dubbing an excerpt from the film "Bunker". This video, created by the 33x3sketch studio back in 2009, ridicules the then-discussed topic of the prospect of banning Skype in Russia. From our point of view, punishment for its distribution is unlawful, since prosecution under Art. 20.3 of the Administrative Code applies only to those who demonstrate prohibited symbols for the purpose of promoting the corresponding ideology. Unfortunately, current Russian legislation prohibits the display of this symbolism without taking into account the context.

Let us note that this is not the first time that citizens have been punished for videos based on an excerpt from the film “Bunker”: for example, similar recordingsappear in the case of fined Omsk designer Ilya Frishman, and Novokuznetsk activist Valery Kazantsev was sent under arrest for such a video.

Sources

• Vanda Maksimova. “Hitler and Skype”: an 18-year-old resident of Vladikavkaz will pay a fine for distributing Nazi symbols // 15th region. 2019. May 28.