The Novosibirsk Regional Court upheld the sentence of psychologist and activist Irina Tolmacheva under the article on military “fakes” (Part 1 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The case file is available on the court website.
In July, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Novosibirsk sentenced Tolmacheva to nine months of correctional labor with a deduction of 10% of wages in favor of the state. The prosecutor asked the girl for 10 months of this sentence.
If Tolmacheva’s sentence comes into force, according to Art. 331 of the Labor Code, will not be able to work with children and in various children's institutions - she previously worked as a psychologist at school for five years and was a member of the Teachers' Alliance. She emphasized that she would then lose her sources of income.
A criminal case was opened against the psychologist in March 2022; The reason for the persecution was a comment on Instagram on the page of Novosibirsk City Council deputy Sergei Boyko. “There was something like that the Ministry of Defense does not recognize all the deaths of our military that actually exist,” said the OVD-Info activist.
According to the girl, she wrote the comment on March 3, the day before the law on “fake news” about the Russian army came into force. At the same time, the prosecutor pointed out that Tolmacheva wrote it on March 4, when the law had already come into force .
The girl admitted guilt and was given a preventive measure in the form of a written undertaking not to leave the place. In September 2022, the Oktyabrsky Court returned the activist’s criminal case to the prosecutor’s office: the court noted that the investigation did not indicate the exact time the comment was written and the difference in time zones between Moscow and Novosibirsk. The judge stressed that this does not allow him to pronounce a sentence or make a different decision in the case. However, in December the criminal case was again submitted to the same court.
- 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 700 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.