The court will consider the case of a resident of the Nizhny Novgorod region who published a photo of a German soldier on the Immortal Regiment website

Maxim Dobrykh is charged under Part 3 of Art. 354.1 of the Criminal Code.

On July 9, 2021, it became known that the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court would consider the case of Maxim Dobrykh, accused under Part 3 of Art. 354.1 of the Criminal Code (dissemination of information expressing clear disrespect for society about the days of military glory and memorable dates of Russia related to the defense of the Fatherland, committed publicly).

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, on May 4, 2020, Dobrykh “filled out an application for public demonstration to an unlimited circle of people on the Immortal Regiment Online website of a photograph of a Wehrmacht soldier Hans Beindner on a par with veterans of the Great Patriotic War.”

We believe that such a qualification of the accused's actions is incorrect. By itself, uploading photographs of Nazi leaders to the site, even shortly before May 9, is neither a public approval of the crimes of Nazism, nor the dissemination of any information about veterans or the activities of the USSR during the war years. Recall that law enforcement agencies initiate a whole series of similar criminal cases under Art. 354.1 of the Criminal Code.

Sources

• Approved indictment in the criminal case on the rehabilitation of Nazism using the Immortal Regiment Online website // General Prosecutor's Office of Russia. 2021. 9 July.
• The GP sent to court the case on the placement of a portrait of Hitler at the action "Immortal Regiment" // TASS. 2021. 9 July.