Gozman was again arrested for 15 days

The oppositionist was punished under Art. 13.48 of the Code of Administrative Offenses for comparing Smersh with the SS.

On September 14, 2022, the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow arrested politician Leonid Gozman for 15 days under Part 2 of Art. 13.48 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (re-identification of the goals, decisions and actions of the USSR and Nazi Germany).

Earlier, Gozman was arrested under Part 1 of Art. 13.48 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. As soon as he left the detention center, a new protocol was drawn up against him.

The reason was a post in LiveJournal on May 12, 2013, in which Gozman commented on the TV series Death to Spies. He stated that Smersh differed from the SS only in the absence of a beautiful uniform and combat units, but otherwise it was a structure " no less criminal ." Gozman also stated in his text that " the very word - SMERSH - should be on a par with the words "SS", "NKVD" and "Gestapo", cause horror and disgust, and not be taken out as the name of patriotic militants " .

As we wrote earlier, we believe that Art. 13.48 of the Code of Administrative Offenses excessively and unreasonably restricts freedom of speech in the field of peaceful historical discussion. Gozman did not justify the crimes of Nazism, did not call for violence, hatred or discrimination, so we consider his persecution unlawful.

Sources

• Leonid Gozman re-arrested for 15 days for comparing the NKVD with the SS and the Gestapo in a 2013 post //
• Case card No. 05-2051/2022 // Portal of open data of courts of general jurisdiction of Moscow. 2022. September 14.