The prosecutor asked a former MIA technician for nine years in prison in the case of “fake news” about the army

During the debate in the Perovsky District Court of Moscow, the prosecutor requested nine years in prison for former MIA technician Samiel Wedel (Sergei Klokov). This was reported by Network Freedom.

In August 2022, the court refused to consider the case against Wedel, returning it to the prosecutor's office, but in November it still accepted the case for consideration.

The case against Wedel was opened in March. He is accused of publicly disseminating deliberately false information about the Russian military by a group of people using their official position for reasons of hatred (paragraphs “a”, “b” and “e”, part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code).

The charges were based on recordings of the man’s telephone conversations with friends and colleagues, which were tapped. Wedel said that Russia was evacuating wounded Russian military personnel to Belarus and understating the death toll. As the defendant's lawyer noted, there is no judicial permission for wiretapping in the case.

• Since February 24, 2022—the first day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine—residents of Russian cities have been holding anti-war protests every day and talking about the tragedy online. Anti-war speeches and statements become grounds for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 500 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protest against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our infographic .
• After the start of the full-scale invasion, the Russian authorities began to react sharply to protest sentiments. The list of articles under which those who oppose the war are prosecuted is quite wide. Those involved in “anti-war cases” are often charged with hooliganism, vandalism, violence against government officials, and other violations. A significant element of pressure was also the articles introduced into the Criminal Code after the outbreak of hostilities - the spread of “fakes” about the Russian army and discrediting the armed forces.
• 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 this article is 15 years in prison.