The Moscow Regional Court considered an appeal against the sentence of 75-year-old Lobnya resident Anatoly Roshchin: the man was upheld with a fine of one hundred thousand rubles, but the additional punishment was canceled. This was reported by OVD-Info lawyer Evgenia Grigorieva, who represents the interests of the pensioner.
sentenced under the article on discrediting the army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code) Roshchin was in August. Then, in addition to the fine, he was given a one-year ban from holding public office. “I hope that my participation in various actions (mass actions, single pickets) will help my country return to the path of normal democratic development,” the man said in his last word.
The prosecutor asked for Roshchin to be punished with a fine of 200 thousand rubles, taking into account his illness and retirement age.
According to investigators , Roshchin published three posts in which Russia was called a “fascist” state and the war was called “aggression.” “Glory to Ukraine and shame to the aggressors,” ends one of the messages. in the apartment of Roshchin and his wife On the morning of March 15, a search was carried out . Computers, phones and other equipment, as well as the flag of Ukraine, were confiscated from them. After this, the man was taken for interrogation. He is under recognizance not to leave the place.
On March 29, 2022, the Lobnensky City Court fined Roshchin 30 thousand rubles under the administrative article on discrediting the army (Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) due to a single picket near the city administration building with a poster “MY COUNTRY YOU'RE STUPID. UKRAINE FORGIVE ME FOR AGGRESSION." On May 26, the appellate court approved the decision. Previously, Roshchin was also fined 10 thousand rubles under the “rally” article (Part 5 of Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code).
14:42 Grigorieva clarifies that the cancellation of the additional punishment for Roshchin is due to the mistake of the lower court judge: the latter did not indicate the reasons why he imposed a ban on the man from holding public office.
- 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 280.3 (Public actions aimed at discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation) was included in the Criminal Code in March 2022 - in this way the government 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. On March 14, 2023, the State Duma adopted amendments increasing the maximum penalty under this article, since then it has been seven years in prison.