In Anapa, a mother was fined for a video with Nazi symbols on her son’s page

The mother of a teenager from Anapa was fined under Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for a music video with newsreel footage.

In December, we learned that on October 29, 2019, the Anapa City Court fined Maria Molodina 1,000 rubles under Part 1 of Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (public display of Nazi symbols).

The court found that her son posted on the social network "VKontakte" a video "Knight SGC - FASHWAVE - FASHWAVE", which contained newsreels from the time of the Third Reich, on which Nazi symbols were visible. Molodina told the court that her son saved the video when he was preparing a school essay on history, but neither she nor her son are engaged in propaganda, but " are patriots, support the Cossack movement in the Kuban ."

We doubt the legitimacy of prosecution for this publication. We studied the teenager's page and found no evidence that he was sympathetic to Nazi ideology. From our point of view, citizens should be punished for displaying Nazi symbols if they pursued the goal of promoting the ideology of Nazism. Unfortunately, the version of Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses provided for punishment for all cases of displaying such symbols, regardless of the context.

We also note that we are not clear on the procedural grounds for holding the mother of a teenager liable under Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for his actions: if he is 16 years old, the commission on juvenile affairs should have held him accountable; otherwise, the mother could be held liable under Art. 5.35 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (failure to fulfill the obligations of raising a minor).

Sources

• Case card No. 5-3452/2019 // Website of the Anapa City Court. November 6, 2019