The court in Kirov extended the preventive measure for those involved in the case of “fake news” about the Russian army

The Oktyabrsky District Court of Kirov extended the preventive measure for Richard and Maria Rose, defendants in the case of distributing “fakes” about the Russian army based on political hatred (clause “d”, part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the publication “Idel.Realii”.

Maria Rose must remain under a ban on certain activities for a further two months, and her husband Richard Rose must remain under arrest. The court considered that mitigating the preventive measure would allow the spouses to escape and continue their “criminal activities.”

Richard Rosewas detained in a criminal case regarding “fake news” on April 15. On April 22, it became known that a similar case had been opened against his wife under the same article. The investigation believes that the couple published posts on social networks containing “deliberately false information about the goals, objectives and procedure for conducting a special military operation in the territory of the settlement of Bucha, Kyiv region.”

• In 2018, Richard Rose was the organizer of the “He is not our king” action in Kirov. After this, a protocol was drawn up against him for holding a public event without filing a notice (Part 2 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code), but the court dismissed the activist’s case. Immediately after this, a similar report was drawn up against Rose for organizing a procession after the rally.

• Since February 24—the first day of the “special operation” in Ukraine—residents of Russian cities have been going out to anti-war rallies every day and talking about the tragedy online. Anti-war speeches and statements become grounds for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 160 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protest against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our guide .

• Article 207.3 (Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation) was included in the Criminal Code in March 2022 - in this way the authorities responded to anti-war speeches and statements, as well as the dissemination of information about the war that does not come from official Russian sources. The maximum penalty under the article is ten years in prison.