A resident of Yoshkar-Ola was fined under Art. 20.3 Code of Administrative Offenses

The reason was the publication on VKontakte of an image with a swastika and the riot police emblem.

On January 25, 2024, the Yoshkar-Ola City Court fined local resident Andrei Sokolov one thousand rubles, finding him guilty under Part 1 of Art. 20.3 Code of Administrative Offenses (public display of Nazi symbols).

On November 1, 2022, Sokolov posted on his VKontakte page a photo “with images of the Nazi “Sign of Superiority” in the form of an eagle with a fascist swastika, a Nazi breast badge ... with a swastika” in combination with a certain emblem and “a sleeve insignia of police officers special purpose of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation."

We assume that Sokolov’s publication was not aimed at promoting Nazism, but at criticizing the activities of riot police officers. From our point of view, sanctions for displaying Nazi symbols are justified if the goal is to promote the corresponding ideology.

Sources

• Administrative violation case file No. 5-18/2023 // Yoshkar-Ola City Court. 2023. April 21.