Elena Popova, coordinator of the Conscious Objector Movement from St. Petersburg, was fined 40 thousand rubles under the article on public display of Nazi or extremist symbols (Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code). This was reported by Sever.Realii.
The human rights activist does not know what was the reason for the administrative case. In the summer, when she went to the Gosuslugi website, she discovered that she had been fined because of a certain offense committed in February, and the punishment was imposed in Moscow. The woman sent a request to the capital’s Golovinsky interdistrict prosecutor’s office demanding to explain why a report was drawn up against her.
“Inspector Irina Aleksandrovna Solomentseva called me and told me about a violation under the relevant article and that I was allegedly registered in Moscow, in Chertanovsky, although I have always lived in St. Petersburg, and the last time I was in Moscow was a very long time ago. When the employee heard this, she only said that the case would be transferred to another police department closest to me in St. Petersburg, and said that I was being charged under a “political charge,” Popova told the publication.
The human rights activist was not given any other details. “I don’t know, maybe this is some kind of mistake, but then it’s not clear why my phone number and address are indicated. But I certainly didn’t demonstrate Nazi symbols. If a report was indeed drawn up against me, the only version is that I could have reposted something from the “Spring” movement when it was not yet recognized as extremist. In general, I’ll look into it,” the woman commented.
- The youth movement “Spring” was founded in 2013 in St. Petersburg, then it appeared in other regions of Russia. Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, members of the movement have actively participated in anti-war demonstrations. On May 9, they planned to hold the “They didn’t fight for this” action, joining the “Immortal Regiment” marches. In September, Viasna activists announced mass actions against the “partial” mobilization. After this, the St. Petersburg prosecutor’s office demanded that “Vesna” be recognized as an extremist organization - in December 2022, the court granted the claim, and in May the decision was approved . After this, criminal cases began to be initiated against participants in the movement.