A resident of Sochi was fined under Art. 20.3 Code of Administrative Offenses for WhatsApp status

In the status of Victoria Tkacheva's messenger there was an inscription "Glory to Ukraine!" in Korean.

On February 1, 2023, the police officers drew up a protocol under Part 1 of Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (public demonstration of the symbols of an extremist organization) in relation to a resident of Sochi, Victoria Tkacheva The next day, the Central District Court of Sochi imposed a fine of two thousand rubles on her.

The reason for bringing to administrative responsibility was a personal status in the WhatsApp messenger - in it Tkacheva posted the inscription "Glory to Ukraine!" in Korean.

We are inclined to consider the persecution of a resident of Sochi in an administrative case unreasonable. Recall that Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses implies punishment for demonstrating the symbols or attributes of prohibited organizations, and not for distributing their slogans. In addition, the slogan “Glory to Ukraine!”, which came into circulation at the beginning of the 20th century, should not be considered solely as the slogan of Ukrainian nationalist organizations banned in Russia: in recent years it has been used everywhere in Ukraine and since 2018 has been an official greeting in the Ukrainian army and police.

Sources

• In Russia, for the first time, they opened a case for personal status on WhatsApp. The girl, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, put the status “Glory to Ukraine!” in the messenger, written in Korean // ASTRA. Telegram. 2023. February 2.
• The Central District Court of Sochi considered the material on an administrative offense drawn up in relation to a local resident born in 1984. under part 1 of Art. 20.3 Administrative Code of the Russian Federation // United press service of the courts of the Krasnodar Territory. 2023. February 2.
• Case card on an administrative offense No. 5-121/2023 // Central District Court of Sochi. 2023. February 2.