Father of the editor of the publication “Protocol. Samara" was summoned to the Investigative Committee, where he was threatened with a criminal case against his son

Father of the editor of the online publication “Protocol. Samara" Sergei Podsytnik was summoned to the Investigative Committee, where he was informed of the intention to initiate a criminal case against his son. The publication itself reports this.

The district investigative department informed Podsytnik that a case would be opened against his son within a week under the article on disseminating “fakes” about the Russian army (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The editor of the online publication himself has been outside Russia for a year and a half.

According to the publication, the reason for the case could have been an investigation into the shelling of a vocational school building in Makeyevka, Donetsk region, which was jointly conducted by “Samara Against War” and “Protocol. Samara".

• In September 2022, a court in Samara decided to recover 435 thousand rubles from local activists, including Sergei Podsytnik, for police work during protests in support of Alexei Navalny in January 2021. And in June 2021, the journalist was declared fit for military service despite existing health contraindications. In November of the same year, the regional court upheld the decision on the legality of conscripting the editor of the publication into the army, after which Podsytnik announced his departure from Russia.
• 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 550 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protest against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our infographic .
• 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.